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Benefits of Full and Associate Institutional Membership
The following benefits and opportunities are provided by your Full or Associate Institutional membership contribution:
ARAZPA maintains a permanent secretariat through the ARAZPA Science and Administration Office in Sydney. In this office, the Association currently funds the work of four full-time and three part-time staff. Current ARAZPA staff have the combined experience of over 25 years of administering a regional zoo association, and provide the following expertise to the Association:
- Population biology
- Conservation biology
- IT and database management
- Program management and facilitation
- Policy development
- Publication review and editing
- Data analysis
- Administration
Support cooperative and scientific management of animal collections; this involves:
- coordinating the activities of some 200 volunteers across the region
- overseeing the running of more than 100 species programs
- providing technical support and scientific advice on program management to staff of ARAZPA institutions
- administering the work of the fifteen Taxon Advisory Groups
- providing policy advice and administrative support to the committee appointed to oversee the Australasian Species Management Program (the ASMP Committee)
Liaise regularly with government and non-government agencies, including:
- providing a central point of contact for regulatory and wildlife agencies dealing with issues of relevance to zoos and aquariums
- providing input to effect changes to legislation, regulation and policy to assist the activities of member institutions
- acting as an advocate representing the interests and activities of member institutions to relevant government, conservation and welfare organisations
Establish avenues for professional development for staff of ARAZPA institutions; this involves:
- administering the work of more than 20 regional networks of zoo and aquarium specialists
- providing training opportunities in key areas of cooperative zoo and aquarium management
Administer the business of the Association, including:
- administering to the membership needs of 73 institutions and 200 individual members and associates
- ensuring responsible financial management of the Association
- complying with the statutory reporting requirements of a medium-sized registered non-profit association
- providing policy advice and administrative support to the elected ARAZPA Board of Management
Provide continuity and independence to collaborative initiatives
- The effectiveness of ARAZPA depends heavily on the work of volunteers
- Permanent ARAZPA staff are involved in projects on on-going basis, and provide the vital link for ensuring that valuable work is not lost and repeated
- ARAZPA staff are charged specifically with representing the interests of all members equally
Provide centralised data storage
- ARAZPA staff maintain a range of zoo and aquarium related data bases under a single management regime, and available to all membership
ARAZPA is viewed by both government and non-government agencies as the peak zoo and aquarium body in Australasia.
A range of government agencies regularly seeks ARAZPA’s view on issues of broad relevance to zoos and aquariums. Environment Australia has consulted extensively with ARAZPA to help define and interpret its own legislation on wildlife import and export, and its recognition of the legitimate needs of management programs for captive populations. Lobbying from ARAZPA is credited as a significant factor leading up to the recent changes to Australian legislation that eased the administrative burden of wildlife import and export. Many wildlife agencies across Australia and New Zealand increasingly look to ARAZPA as setting the standards for zoo involvement in species recovery programs. AQIS is currently consulting ARAZPA regarding proposed changes to quarantine regulations at national and state level.
Both Australia’s National Consultative Committee on Animal Welfare and the Exhibited Animals Protection Authority have approached ARAZPA to help develop national standards for keeping wild animals in captivity. ARAZPA has also been consulted regarding the development of New Zealand animal welfare legislation.
Internationally, ARAZPA is seen to set the highest standards in providing and resourcing structures to promote collaboration amongst the zoo and aquarium community. Accordingly, members of the ARAZPA Board and staff currently hold positions on the management committees of key international bodies of relevance to zoos and aquariums. These include the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), International Species Information Systems (ISIS), the Committee for Inter-Regional Conservation Cooperation, and the IUCN’s Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG). Through these bodies ARAZPA is able to represent its members, for instance, when plans to develop the next generation of animal records software are discussed, or when global zoo and aquarium campaigns are planned. ARAZPA is also working to establish closer links with other zoo regions such as the USA and South-East Asia, and to help set global zoo and aquarium conservation priorities.
ARAZPA is therefore increasingly well placed to represent member zoo and aquarium interests to governments, non-governmental organisations and international bodies, and to promote widely our combined efforts in conservation, education, research and species management.
ARAZPA now acts as a key source of information on the Australasian zoo and aquarium community, regularly distributing information and publications to personnel in more than 25 government and non-government agencies and other subscribing organisations.A critical component of ARAZPA activities involves providing the framework to assist members to manage their animal collections cooperatively, in ways that promote their sustainability and value as a conservation resource.
To do this, the Association runs the Australasian Species Management Program (ASMP) through which ARAZPA zoos and aquaria organise scientific management for their combined captive populations. This involves ensuring that the animal collections held by member institutions are all closely integrated, and the that animals are bred and exchanged among member institutions in accordance with sound principles of genetics and demographics. The ASMP has been developed over the past 10 years, and its credibility is recognised nationally and internationally as among the best in the world for responsible animal collection management.
The ASMP is administered by staff at the ARAZPA executive office, and draws on a network of experts, all employees of ARAZPA member institutions. Under the ASMP:
- the voluntary work of close to 200 zoo and aquarium staff is coordinated across 73 institutions
- 13 Taxon Advisory Groups have been established to provide advice to curators and animal management staff of all ARAZPA members
- more than 100 programs for rare and threatened species are run, these include:
- 35 Conservation Programs: programs with direct links to in situ conservation in which the captive populations run as part of recovery programs
- 22 programs currently releasing captive animals to the wild
- 47 Population Management Programs: programs for sustainable captive populations
The ARAZPA Accreditation Program offers a framework for assisting zoos and aquaria to achieve established ARAZPA standards of zoo and aquarium operation, and provides an opportunity for independent review and validation of their efforts and achievements in meeting these standards. In addition, full implementation of the ARAZPA Accreditation Program brings greater clarity, transparency and confidence in ARAZPA to the wider zoo and aquarium community, to external agencies, and to the general public by making accreditation a condition of membership.
Through the ARAZPA Accreditation Program, ARAZPA aims for recognition of member institutions as world class in the standards of zoo and aquarium operation. The ARAZPA Accreditation Program will certify that all animals held in ARAZPA zoos and aquariums are appropriately cared for and contribute to public understanding of, and empathy with, their natural state, and that ARAZPA zoos and aquariums support species conservation through education, research or in situ support, and provide quality visitor experience.
The Accreditation program’s mission is to establish, maintain and raise standards of operation in the zoo and aquarium community.
Accreditation runs on a five year cycle. It involves an initial desktop review, where information and documentation is requested via questionnaire and reviewed, and subsequent periodic site reviews.
An independent site review, involving a visiting team of two people, is required every five years to achieve and maintain ARAZPA Accreditation. The visiting team of assessors review all facilities and operational procedures. Two to three years after the last independent review, a detailed internal review of facilities and operational procedures will be sought by the Accreditation Committee as a follow-up.
The ARAZPA Accreditation program is designed to:
The collaborative network of ARAZPA membership offers additional opportunities for supporting conservation initiatives.
The ASMP
Through the species management program, 33 ASMP Conservation Programs are run where captive populations are managed directly to provide support for threatened populations in the wild.
The ARAZPA Wildlife Conservation Fund
In addition to the ASMP, ARAZPA has recently established the ARAZPA Wildlife Conservation Fund, dedicated to providing funds solely to in situ conservation projects. The ARAZPA Wildlife Conservation Fund aims to provide a structure for conservation fundraising through public and corporate donations.
To date, fundraising campaigns and events for the Wildlife Conservation Fund have included a televised conservation appeal and a regional conservation lecturer tour, promoting the conservation work of ARAZPA institutions and raising funds for endorsed conservation programs. So far, the ARAZPA Wildlife Conservation Fund has provided funds to support project assisting conservation of Sumatran Tigers, Great Apes, Coxen's Fig Parrot, Tenkile, and Owston's Palm Civet.ARAZPA also helps fund the IUCN Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG), a group working with government bodies and NGOs in countries around the world to help set conservation priorities for threatened species in the wild.
An increasingly important focus of ARAZPA’s activities is to provide opportunities for professional development and information sharing and training for staff of ARAZPA institutions.
Through ARAZPA’s professional networks, the various specialist advisory groups, regional and national projects and campaigns are established, including Australasian-wide initiatives in zoo and aquarium education, marketing, and conservation fundraising. These advisory groups also provide a framework for communication amongst those in zoo and aquarium specialist fields, whereby staff of ARAZPA institutions:
- share ideas, problems and solutions
- build regional resources
- build skill bases
- develop regional policy
- organise training opportunities
Current ARAZPA advisory groups cover the specialist fields of:
Zoo and aquarium education, veterinary science, zoo and aquarium marketing, animal records keeping, research, horticulture, South-East Asian conservation action and taxonomy and human resources.
ARAZPA specialist advisory groups currently provide opportunities for involvement of over 100 specialist staff from ARAZPA institutions.
Training
ARAZPA provides training to staff of member institutions in a range of specialist subjects. Over the past five years, around fifteen ARAZPA training courses have been run, covering:
- records keeping
- animal transaction management
- animal data analysis techniques
- genetic and demographic management of captive populations
Training is usually provided at the request of ARAZPA member institutions.
Membership of ARAZPA also makes available a range of regional resources, developed through the collaborative efforts of ARAZPA staff and members.
Publications
ARAZPA institutions receive a range of publications produced by the Association each year.
Produced four times per year, the ARAZPA Newsletter includes news from member institutions, reports of significant conservation, research and education events, articles on relevant developments, news of Association activities, news from other international bodies (e.g. the CBSG), position advertisements, book reviews and an updated institutional members directory with contact details.
Produced annually, this publication records the current holdings of ARAZPA member institutions, institutional plans for the future and a range of additional information relevant to regional collection planning. For many institutions, this document acts as a curator’s ‘bible’, to assist with exhibit development and animal transaction planning.
TAG Action Plans are the critical output from the thirteen taxon advisory groups operating under the ASMP. The Action Plans are produced annually, and contain recommendations for planning and managing all components of the animal collections held by ARAZPA member institutions. TAG Action Plans also report on progress with the approximately 100 intensive programs for priority species currently being run under their auspices.
These documents are produced by ARAZPA Species Coordinators, and outline plans for the detailed management of our priority species.
A range of other relevant publications are produced periodically, including:
- training and technical manuals
- management guidelines
- research documents
- workshop and meeting reports
- regional policy documents
ARAZPA Publications
Web site and the Internet
In addition to conventional publications, the Association uses the ARAZPA web site to promote member institutions and to provide information on Association members and activities. The web site includes:
- information and promotional material on all ARAZPA institutions
- links to the web sites of members and key associated organisations
- information on ARAZPA programs
- a Member Services section (constantly being expanded), which currently includes:
- free download of a range of ARAZPA publications
- free download of relevant zoo and aquarium data bases
- job advertisements and staff exchange information
Communication is the key to collaboration, and ARAZPA helps staff of member institutions keep in touch by administering a range of internet discussion groups, each aimed helping disseminate specialist information relevant to relevant zoo or aquarium personnel.
Currently, around 30 different internet-based discussion groups are being run via a listserve system, linking up over 100 staff of ARAZPA institutions.
The Association has a long way to go before it fully realises the vision of the current Board and membership. The input and support of ARAZPA members is of course vital to the further development of the Association, and its continued relevance as the representative body for zoos and aquariums in Australasia. Key developments planned include:
Regional marketing initiatives
Increasingly, national and international companies are interested in broader national or regional campaigns. ARAZPA has now been approached by several companies to discuss opportunities for using the ARAZPA membership as a network for regional marketing initiatives. Although the issues are complex, there are nevertheless significant opportunities for coordinated, high profile, promotions involving ARAZPA member institutions, and avenues for regional sponsorship.
Such opportunities will result only from the existence of the Association’s strong, collaborative network of zoos and aquariums, and ARAZPA members are well positioned to take greater advantage of this. The work of ARAZPA’s Marketing Advisory Group, and the commitment of ARAZPA members, will be important for further developing this opportunity.
Regional education initiatives
ARAZPA’s Education Advisory Group has been one of the more active of the professional networks established under the Association. ARAZPA’s education group has worked together on a number of regional initiatives involving ARAZPA member institutions. Prominent among these in recent times has been the ASX sponsored frog learning initiative known as Frog Focus, a program linking the conservation educational efforts of ARAZPA zoos and schools around Australia.
The Education Advisory Group has now gained regional agreement on an ARAZPA education policy. This aims to provide a broad framework for delivering best practice zoo- and aquarium-based education programs. The next stage of this project is to develop a resource of exemplar educational materials and program designs for use by education departments in all ARAZPA institutions. These materials will provide a mechanism for promting excellence in educational standards in ARAZPA institutions, and will provide the springboard for future regional education initiatives coordinated across ARAZPA institutions.
Local branches
To date, ARAZPA has directed most of its efforts in acting as an advocate for the zoo and aquarium community towards the Australian federal government and regional and international organisations. For many ARAZPA members, however, state governments and local organisations are the critical points of contact with conservation agencies and key regulatory bodies. In recognition of this, ARAZPA is committed to developing a local (e.g. state) branch structure to improve local representation and advocacy. ARAZPA now has a Queensland Branch and a New Zealand branch. Branches have specific local responsibilities, and specific representation on ARAZPA’s governing body.
Expand the professional development program
The Board has determined that providing professional development opportunities to staff of ARAZPA institutions should become one of the central planks of the Association. An important step in this process will be the development of our newest specialist network: Human Resources advisory groups. Specialist Advisory Group meetings and training workshops currently provide a key avenue for professional development and information sharing. A number of specialist advisory groups will be meet each year.
 Full Institutional membership
Associate Institutional membership
Corporate Institutional membership
Subscribing Institutional membership |