Species conservation

The conservation status of the toothed whales has worsened dramatically since 2001. Since then, more species have been listed in the IUCN Red List as Vulnerable and Nearly Threatended, while the Baiji river dolphin, which used to live in the Yangtze River, is now probably extinct. One major threat to toothed whales world wide is entanglement in fishing gear.

The Zoological Park: a new ally for Biodiversity delivers directly and succinctly what must be understood as the requirements of the EU Zoos Directive established in 1999. In the simplest possible language and with the most useful information it explains how zoological parks should conduct their activities.

Since 2004 Germany established ten Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the German Economic Exclusive Zone (EEZ, 12-200 nautical miles zone) of the North and Baltic Sea as a contribution to the European Natura 2000 network. The main target of the coherent network of Natura 2000 sites is to reach a favourable conservation status of habitats and species.

Marine mammal conservation presents a number of challenges for scientists and other stakeholders, especially using natural resources in ways that avoid crisis management. Scientists play the special role of providing vital information to decision makers to help them understand long-term consequences of their actions and avoid crises before they develop.