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Campaign „Silent Forest“

In 2017 EAZA started the campaign “Silent Forest“ as an answer to the Asian songbird crisis.

Together with TRAFFIC, a NGO working globally on the trade of wild animals and plants in the context of both biodiversity and sustainable development, EAZA aims at protecting Asian songbirds from extinction by raising 400.000 € during the following two years.

In the course oft he camapign, it is supposed to draw public attention to the devastating consequences of illegal trade with songbirds in Southeast Asia.

Owning a songbird is a crucial part of Southeast Asian culture. With increasing prosperity, songbirds generate even higher prices on the markets which encourages fowlers to capture as many birds as possible in large areas of the forests.

The name of the campaign therefore accounts to the fact that these areas inevitably turn into „silent forests“, where the birds‘ calls will not be heard any longer, if we do not react immediately.

In the framework oft he camapign, it is intended to develop a sustainable model that takes native customs and laws into consideration without destructing the unrivalled biodiversity of Southeast Asia.

Among these andangered species are the Bali Myna and the Javan Green Magpie which are both criticallly endangered. ZGAP has been contributing to their protection for many years.