ANNUAL REPORT
2016
07
12
Reference & Admin
11
03
Organisational goals
Our Partners
06
05
Table of Contents
Finances
Achievements in 2016
09
Message from Chair of the Board and Executive Director
Structure, governance & management
FOUNDATION NAME
Principal office
DESIGN
Staff
Foundation name
P.O. Box 50313 1305 AH Almere The Netherlands
David van Gennep (Chair) Sonja van Tichelen Ioana Dungler Wim de Kok Rachel Hevesi
Reference & administration
Registration number
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56286562 (Dutch chamber of commerce)
Dave Eastham
European Alliance of Rescue Centres and Sanctuaries
Members of the Board
Thanks for taking the time to read this report. If you would like to find out more about EARS please visit our webpage: www.ears.org
This was an important year for EARS as we began to expand, recruiting two new Partner organisations to the EARS network. Our strength is both in the skills and knowledge our network holds along with our ability to provide representation at the higher level. Increasing the size and scope of our network, as we have done this year, helps us greatly in achieving these things and we would urge any rescue centres or sanctuaries interested in becoming part of EARS to get in touch. The completion of the EARS Rescue Database (see later) has also helped to establish EARS as a valuable source of information that has an important role in developing policy in the area of wildlife protection. We will continue to work with stakeholders, adding our unique insight and experience to existing efforts to tackle wildlife trade.
Board Chair
David van Gennep
Message from the executive director and board chair
Executive Director
structure, governance & management
Governing document EARS is constituted as a Dutch Foundation (“stichting”) and is registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce. It is governed by Articles of Incorporation last updated in 2012. Organisational Structure The Foundation’s board members are responsible for the governance of the Foundation. The board meets at least twice a year but more often if deemed necessary. An Executive Director is appointed by the Board to manage the day-to-day operations of the Foundation. In addition to the board and Executive Director, the Foundation consists of a Partner Council, which in turn consists of all partner organisations in the Foundation. Appointment of trustees Existing board members are responsible for the appointment of new board members. Board members are selected on the basis of their experience and skills in relation to the aims and objectives of the Foundation.
organisational goals
Our Vision: Europe and its people protect exotic and wild animals and, when captive care is needed, highest standards are applied.
Establish and manage a system in Europe to facilitate the most appropriate animal placement according to individual welfare and species-specific requirements.
Deliver communications to promote respect and empathy towards animals including species-specific needs, and strengthening links between the activities of rescue centres, sanctuaries and wildlife conservation.
We aim to achieve our Vision and Mission through five organisational objective
Represent the community and provide expert input and guidance at the national, regional and international stage on political, policy and legislative issues.
Lobby European governments, and work with Partners, stakeholders and the public to end commercial trade and exploitation, and the keeping of animals that are not suited to captivity.
Establish a membership based system to facilitate the exchange of information, knowledge and expertise and promote high standards of captive care and rehabilitation for all EARS members.
Our Mission: To support and represent rescue centres and sanctuaries across Europe and enable them to work together to achieve mutual animal welfare and conservation goals.
what we achieved in 2016
Sharing and learning Coming together to share knowledge and experience is a core part of our work. This year the annual General Partner Meeting was held in Italy and hosted by EARS Partner Centro Tutelae Ricerca Fauna Esotica e Selvatica (also known as 'Monte Adone'). As always the meeting offered the opportunity for Partners to spend time together to discuss their work. We also held a workshop to help us develop best practice for making behavioural observations of the animals in our care. Along with physical assessments this is the key method by which we can determine the welfare of captive animals and so we held a workshop to collate the current methods used. The workshop was ran by Godelieve Kranendonk, a behavioural biologist working at Stichting AAP. The workshop was a great success and we plan to develop some guidance for EARS Partners as well as piloting an online app called 'ZooMonitor' which could prove very useful for Partners looking to formalise their behavioural observation protocols. There was also time during the meeting to update Partners on a number of issues at the European Level including the Invasive Alien Species Directive and a review of the Zoo Directive. A full report on the meeting can be found here.
The EARS Rescue Database We decided in 2015 that a tool was needed to help us improve access to information on facilities that house exotic wild animals in Europe. By helping to find facilities that can house confiscated species such a tool can play a key role in helping the authorities to enforce existing animal protection laws. The EARS Rescue Database was soft-launched in June and currently has more than twenty facilities registered and numbers of registered users is increasing all the time. We plan to promote the database to key stakeholders to ensure that enforcement officials, NGOs and members of the public are able to locate the most appropriate housing for surrendered or confiscated exotic wild animals. Below is a video showing how the database works. You can register here to use the database.
New Partners Now that all of the Founding Partners have been formally screened we have been actively looking for rescue centres and sanctuaries to join the EARS network. In 2016 we are pleased to welcome two new Partners, both of whom successfully underwent the EARS screening process:
De Zonnegloed De Zonnelgoed is a new and dynamic wild animal sanctuary founded in April 2011. They now house over one hundred species and provide lifetime care to all animals that come to them. Most of the animals brought to the sanctuary have been rescued from appalling captive conditions elsewhere – be it in private ownership or from zoos and circuses. De Zonnelgoed focuses its efforts on educational programmes – especially for younger people of school age – with a strong message of animal welfare and protection. Activities include school day trips and longer term stays for older students at the facilities on-site accommodation. Members of the public are also able to visit the sanctuary where they are will learn about the stories of the animals now living there and about what they can do prevent more animals being held in poor conditions.
Karel Ackaert, co-founder of De Zonnegloed.
Sarah Ouard, Veterinarian at Refuge de l'Arche
New Partners (contd)
Refuge de l'Arche Refuge de l'Arche takes in exotic, wild and domestic animals which have been held in captivity (by individuals, circuses, laboratories, zoos, etc.). The one thousand 'residents', representing around a hundred different species, live on 11 hectares and stay there until the end of their lives or are transferred to more suitable places. Each animal has its own story. It is not always a happy one, and all too often it has been disrupted by contact with humans, as explained on the guided tour to raise awareness about animal welfare.The site is open to the public for educational and financial purposes, and attracts an average of 85,000 visitors per year.
CITES & Rescue Centres We began to reach out to external stakeholders in 2015 with a view to working more collaboratively on some of the bigger issues. Through our involvement with the Species Survival Network (SSN) we contributed to a new initiative to encourage CITES to develop better guidance on issues affecting rescue centres. We worked with members of the SSN Animals in Captivity Working Group to develop a white paper on the establishment of rescue centres along with how Parties to CITES should be workng with existing rescue centres. The paper, which was completed using information provided by many rescue centres including EARS Partners, can be found here. It was submitted by Costa Rica as an information document at the seventeenth meeting of the conference of the Parties (CoP17) It is hoped that this can be developed in the future so that more official guidance is issued by CITES so improvements can be made in the working relationships between governments and rescue centres.
For more info on SSN ans CITES click below:
Connecting with the experts The EARS network contains a huge amount of expertise and knowledge when it comes to caring for exotic and wild animals. One of the roles of EARS is to help our Partners share this knowledge with each other and to access specialist expertise when it is not available within the EARS network. In 2017 we plan to build and 'Expert Portal' to enable people within the EARS network, and experts working elsewhere, to register and make themselves available to advise and help EARS Partners. Experts will be able to set up a profile and register their areas of expertise. They can then be searched for and contacted by Partners in need of help. We hope this 'Expert Portal' will help strengthen and co-ordinate our efforts to connect Partners with the latest information.
our plans for 2017
Research on capacity Improving our understanding of the number and type of rescue facilities in Europe will also be a focus for us in 2017. Not only will this help to highlight where there are gaps in capacity, it will also serve as a great resource in recruiting new facilities to the rescue database and to the EARS network itself. We hope the conduct the research in collaboration with a number of EARS Partners who have the best on-the-ground information about where the relevant rescue centres are based.
Developing standards and guidance There are a number of opportunities in the coming year for EARS to push for, and help provide, better guidance for governments seeking to work with rescue centres. In 2016 the EU Action Plan stated objcetives specifically relating to governments ensuring adequate rescue capacity in their country. We will work to encourge the European Commission to provide guidance to governments in designating and working with rescue centres. A similar process is taking place within CITES with increasing interest in developing more standards and guidance for CITES Parties working with rescue centres in their work to counter illegal wildlife trade. It is early days but there may be a case for EARS developing some guidelines or 'best practice' for rescue centres that could be used as a template for setting standards in the future.
OUR PARTNERS
EARS is a network or rescue centres and sanctuaries across Europe. Our network of Partners currently includes: Arcturos Environmental Centre, GREECE Bärenwald Arbesbach, AUSTRIA Bärenwald Müritz, GERMANY Bear Sanctuary Prishtina, KOSOVO Centro Tutela e Ricerca Fauna Esotica e Selvatica – Monte Adone, ITALY Dancing Bears Park Belitsa, BULGARIA De Zonnegloed, BELGIUM Fundaciò Mona, SPAIN Lakeview Monkey Sanctuary, UK LiBearty Bear Sanctuary, ROMANIA Natuurhulpcentrum, BELGIUM Primadomus-AAP, SPAIN Refuge de l'Arche, FRANCE Stichting AAP Rescue Centre for Exotic Animals, THE NETHERLANDS Wild Futures, UK This map shows where our current Partners are based along with a clickable link to their website to find out more about their work.
Financial Statement
Income Partner fees € 1,100 Donations € 45,000 TOTAL INCOME € 46,100 Expenditure Operating costs (inc. salaries) € 30,149 Programme activities & screenings € 14,705 TOTAL EXPENDITURE € 44,854
EARS Would like to thank Vier Pfoten International and Stichting AAP for their continued support - without which the work of EARS would not be possible.
The netherlands
Po box 50313 1305 AH ALmere
www.ears.org