European Association of Zoos and Aquaria
The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), originally the European Community Association of Zoos and Aquaria (ECAZA), is an organisation for the European zoo and aquarium community that links over 340 member organisations in 41 countries. It operates the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP). The organisation is administered and headquarted at Natura Artis Magistra in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Up until 2014, the EAZA receives no government subsidies. In 2004 EAZA founded the organisation Shellshock to protect tortoises and turtles. Its mascot is Oscar the Turtle, a character from the British TV series Creature  comforts. It collected over €250,000 in its first year. Missions & operating areas. EAZA membership is open to all zoos and aquaria across Europe that comply with EAZA's standards. Member zoos and aquariums and other associate members can be found in the European Union, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Norway, the Russian Federation, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and Taiwan. The mission of the association is to promote cooperation for furthering regional collection planning and wildlife conservation, mainly through coordinated breeding programs of wild animals such as the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP). The organisation promotes educational  activities and advises EU lawmakers through standing committees of the European Parliament and the European Council. Thematic campaigns. Every two years EAZA launches a campaign dedicated to a threatened species or a threatened Environment. The campaign's aims are to draw attention to the problem, to promote biodiversity awareness, raise funds for special projects and to do lobbying work in national governments and international organizations. The campaigns address EAZA members to get involved in the themes and to spread information about the importance of biodiversity and its conservation to the visitors. EAZA started the first project in 2000 with the  bushmeat campaign about the unsustainable and illegal hunt and trade of threatened wildlife. War campaign. In 2022, during the war in Donbas, EAZA launched a funding campaign to save animals from Ukrainian zoos. List of EAZA member institutions. As of 2022, there are currently (insert number here) EAZA-accredited zoos, aquariums, and other related institutions represented in (insert number here) countries.