Zoological Society of London (Leases) Bill

Lord Camoys Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 10th May 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Camoys (Con)]

My Lords, it is a great privilege to follow my noble friend Lord Bethell at Second Reading of this important Bill, which I welcome and fully support. I refer Members to my register of interests and my chairmanship of the UK Trust for Nature Conservation in Nepal, a UK charity which has worked closely with ZSL on conservation projects in Nepal for over 30 years, as well as being a member of the international advisory board of Nepal’s National Trust for Nature Conservation.

A longer lease will allow ZSL to modernise London Zoo, one of Britain’s most loved institutions, enabling it to increase visitor numbers and income, which in turn supports its conservation work around the world. It is no surprise that this simple Bill of two short clauses received cross-party support in the other House.

We all remember our first visit to London Zoo and Whipsnade. Opened to the public in 1847, it is the world’s oldest scientific zoo, where Charles Darwin undertook much of his research. It has been the home to animals that have inspired characters beloved by generations of children, such as Winnie-the-Pooh and Dumbo the elephant. Today, it is home to critically endangered species such as the Waldrapp ibis, the Annam leaf turtle and the Lake Oku clawed frog, as well as 10,000 other animals. It is visited by over 1 million people a year, with thousands on income support benefiting from its community access scheme, which enables visits for as little as £3.

London Zoo is more than just a place for people to see animals, though. It is the global headquarters of one of the most important science-led conservation organisations. It operates with some of the most challenging issues facing the natural world, here at home in the UK but also around the globe. Its mission is to end the extinction crisis and really support the integration of nature into all different forms of decision-making.

As my noble friend Lord Randall mentioned, among other projects in the UK it is working to restore our native oyster population after the species declined by 95% due to a combination of habitat loss, pollution, disease and overharvesting. Last year, the project’s marine conservationists successfully released 10,000 European flat oysters on to a 7,500-square-kilometre newly created underwater living reef. This was a landmark moment in the restoration of the native species to UK shores, and there are similar plans for a native oyster reef in north Wales this summer. It is also working to improve the health of the Thames, including by monitoring marine mammals to better understand and conserve these top predators, improving and restoring the biodiversity of the Thames Estuary, restoring sea-grass habitats and installing eel passes on the Thames river basin, making extra habitat available to the species.

Each year, ZSL spends over £25 million on international conservation, working in over 60 countries. People might be surprised to learn that ZSL has 127 staff based outside the UK. As I mentioned at the beginning, I have direct experience of working with ZSL from the extensive conservation work that it does in Nepal. This provides a useful example of the extraordinary global conservation work that ZSL does. If Peers will indulge me, I will say a bit about that, as it helps to contextualise what this amazing organisation does every day around the world and underlines why it is so important that ZSL’s lease at Regent’s Park is extended.

ZSL’s work in Nepal started in the early 1990s, when it first helped establish a wildlife and domestic veterinary programme in the country. It was at this point that my predecessor as chairman of the UK Trust for Nature Conservation in Nepal, the late Field Marshal Sir John Chapple, also took over as president of ZSL. Sir John’s close connections to Nepal from his days as a Gurkha soldier and chairmanship of our charity meant that he could help assist ZSL as it started its work there. As a footnote, it was at this time that Sir John worked literally day and night, sleeping on the floor of his office at the zoo, to turn around the finances of ZSL, which had recently ceased received government funding. It is excellent to see ZSL’s CEO Matthew Gould here today, albeit it is a surprise not to see him in his usual zookeeper attire. It is great that this organisation has been, and continues to be, led by people who really do roll up their sleeves and get stuck in.

Historically, ZSL’s work in Nepal began with supporting the Government of Nepal’s priority of returning the greater one-horned rhinoceros from the brink of extinction. However, since 2014, its work has largely focused on conserving the tiger in Nepal’s Terai Arc jungle landscape—an area that spans several protected areas across the country where 335 tigers and more than 7 million people share the same space and natural resources. By prioritising umbrella species such as the tiger, you create conservation benefits for other wildlife that live in the same habitat.

Over the last 10 years, ZSL has invested over £12 million into these projects in Nepal. I am proud to say that our charity has raised more than £0.5 million of funding towards this, in particular for anti-poaching units and community-based conservation. Its team in Nepal of over 20 staff has worked closely with over 20,000 community members who live around the country’s protected areas and are reliant on natural resources for their daily survival. The projects support the recovery of flagship species, such as the Indian gharial crocodile, the one-horned rhino and the Bengal tiger, as I have mentioned, while minimising conflict between wildlife and people. Having been fortunate enough to spend time with ZSL staff working on these projects, I can say that it is an inspirational experience.

Since ZSL began working in Nepal 25 years ago, we have seen a tripling of the tiger population, four of which I was fortunate enough to see in the wild during a visit to Nepal last month, and a near doubling of the rhino population, making the Terai Arc landscape one of the most successful conservation stories in the world. More recently, in line with the conservation priorities and needs of the Government of Nepal, ZSL has expanded its conservation focus to other threatened species, including the pangolin and Asian wild dog, and to critical habitats outside protected areas, such as in its support to declare the country’s first bird sanctuary—something that I am sure has cheered my noble friend Lord Randall. It has also helped to provide enhanced conservation technologies, including GSM-enabled camera traps, for monitoring tigers and key species. Its outstanding work there is globally recognised, exemplified by it recently being awarded a five-year Darwin Initiative “Extra” grant to scale up its work in three protected areas in the west of Nepal. ZSL will be working to create better human-wildlife coexistence and conflict mitigation preparedness for communities.

ZSL’s global HQ in Regent’s Park is therefore both a zoo, through which it reaches over a million people each year, and a base for extraordinary conservation. Extending the lease on its site is essential to supporting this vital work. I hope the House will join me in supporting the Bill.