HELSINKI ZOO IN THE FUTURE
SEPPO TURUNEN
Zoo Director (pensioned 1 January 2010)
Helsinki Zoo and the global zoo community are increasingly focusing their activities on efforts designed to help preserve the diversity of nature. We provide information on why the number of different species is decreasing around the world, and what each of us can do to help. Helsinki Zoo is run by the City of Helsinki. In the future, the zoo will take on a more extensive role, serving as an environmental information centre for the city. An international architectural design competition will be held in 2008, the aim of which is to transform the island into an innovative, modern zoo with new, extensive animal pens, information centres and info stands for educational purposes, green belts, attractive restaurants and inviting resting places offering a panoramic view over the seascape. Transport connections to the city centre and pedestrian access to the island will be improved.
Protecting the biodiversity of nature continues to be the main task of Helsinki Zoo. We nurture species that are rare or endangered and participate in conservation schemes. Providing information on what is happening to our environment is a task that will gain increasing importance in the future. Climate change will affect the entire global ecosystem in the future. Hylkysaari, the island next to the zoo, offers an excellent base for an educational programme concerning the state of the Baltic Sea. In the future, Helsinki Zoo may become an information and science centre for nature-related issues.
Helsinki Zoo is an integral part of the global zoo network that shares common goals, educational objectives and ethical standards. The annual volume of visitors to zoos worldwide corresponds to some 10% of the world’s population. These zoos are ideally positioned to become unique information and education communities. The zoo network organises worldwide or continent-wide campaigns, such as the 2008 Year of the Frog campaign on the amphibian extinction crisis, or the 2009 campaign concerning European predators. The need for information and education is global, and at Helsinki Zoo we make every effort to respond to this need.
