PanEco Foundation
| PanEco Foundation | |
|---|---|
| legal form | Non-profit foundation |
| founding | 1996 by Regina Frey ( President of the Board of Trustees ) |
| Seat | Berg am Irchel |
| Website | [1] |
The PanEco Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Berg am Irchel . She has been committed to nature and species protection in Switzerland and Indonesia since 1996. The projects include, on the one hand, the bird of prey station in Berg am Irchel , the Thurauen Nature Center in Flaach and, on the other hand, an orangutan protection program in Sumatra .
Goals and commitment
The foundation works to ensure that:
- nature is preserved in all its diversity
- people treat the environment responsibly and carefully
- the well-being of the local people is promoted as an indispensable part of sustainable nature and environmental protection
- the causes of climate change be fought
In order to achieve this, PanEco carries out its own projects and supports local partners both professionally and financially. PanEco is a member of the Swiss Climate Alliance .
Foundation history
It was founded in 1996 by Regina Frey. The Swiss woman has been committed to preserving the habitat of the Sumatran orangutans in Indonesia since 1973 .
Development of the orangutan protection program
After completing her biology studies at the University of Zurich , she traveled to Sumatra with a fellow student. On behalf of WWF International, the Indonesian government and the Frankfurt Zoological Society , the two women built the first orangutan rehabilitation center in Bukit Lawang in the Gunung Leuser National Park .
After her return to Switzerland, Frey continued to be involved in the projects she initiated or supported in Indonesia . The increased contact with organizations and state authorities made it necessary to institutionalize their work. As a result, in 1996 she founded the non-profit PanEco foundation based in Berg am Irchel, the place where Regina Frey grew up.
Other programs
In 1956, Frey's mother, Veronika von Stockar, founded a sanctuary for injured birds of prey in Berg am Irchel . In 2008 von Stockar handed over the management of the station to PanEco due to his age.
In 2009, the canton of Zurich was looking for a partner who would build and operate a nature center in Flaach as a gateway to the new floodplain conservation area. The decision was made in favor of the PanEco Foundation, which is anchored in the region. The Thurauen Nature Center was opened in 2011.
Fields of work in Switzerland
Birds of prey station Berg am Irchel
The Berg am Irchel bird of prey station has been operated by the foundation since 2008. She is committed to the welfare and preservation of native birds of prey and owls . Their work includes the reception, care and reintroduction of injured and weakened birds of prey and owls, as well as research in the field and environmental education . For the latter, various tours are offered through the station, which are intended to raise awareness of the problems of domestic birds of prey and owls. Every year around 200 patients are admitted to the bird of prey ward and most of them are released. Patients include kestrels , red kites , buzzards , tawny owls and barn owls , among others .
Thurauen Nature Center
In 2009, the Canton of Zurich commissioned the foundation to set up and operate a nature center in Flaach . The Thurauen Nature Center gives visitors an insight into the Thurauen , one of the largest floodplain areas in Switzerland. They are one of the most species-rich habitats in Europe and form a fine mosaic of various biotopes . The core pieces of the nature center are the interactive exhibition “Kosmos Auenlandschaft” and the adventure trail through the habitat of the alluvial forest as well as various themed tours.
Fields of work in Indonesia
Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program
The Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program SOCP was founded by the PanEco Foundation and is a joint program of PanEco, its partner foundation YEL on Sumatra and the Indonesian Nature Conservation Authority. SOCP fights against the extinction of the Sumatran orangutans and for the protection of their habitat, the tropical rainforest . This includes a quarantine and reintroduction station in North Sumatra as well as various research stations. The efforts in Indonesia include the confiscation and reintroduction of captive orangutans on the one hand, and research on the great apes and the protection and preservation of the rainforest on the other.
Environmental education centers and eco-lodges
The foundation supports the development of socially and environmentally compatible tourism in Indonesia. It supports four environmental education centers with eco-lodges in Sumatra , Java and Sulawesi . Local and foreign tourists get to know the threatened diversity of the rainforest habitat, the fragile marine ecosystem and traditional agriculture.
financing
PanEco is primarily financed through donations from private individuals and charitable foundations , but also through project income and a cantonal contribution for the Thurauen Nature Center. In 2006, when the ZEWO seal of approval was awarded for the first time, it was proven that the PanEco Foundation uses its donations for a specific purpose and effectively.
successes
In Switzerland:
- With a care success of 80%, the raptor station shows a very high reintroduction rate in an international comparison (average around 50%).
- Since opening in 2011, the Thurauen Nature Center has welcomed around 45,000 visitors. Every year the team conducts around 300 tours and excursions in the exhibition and in the Thurauen.
In Sumatra:
- Around 300 orangutans were admitted to the quarantine station between 1999 and 2015, and over two thirds of them were successfully released.
- In Batang Toru ( North Sumatra ), the orangutan protection program has discovered and researched an orangutan fragment population with a new gene pool .
- After years of lobbying by the orangutan protection program, the government decided, due to pressure, to declare Batang Toru a protection forest.
- In 2013/14, the protection program and its partners won the court case against the palm oil company PT Kallista Alam . The Indonesian court has fined the company $ 9 million for illegal slash and burn operations in the Leuser ecosystem.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ PanEco website of the PanEco Foundation
- ^ Foundation history Website of the PanEco Foundation
- ^ Foundation history Website of the PanEco Foundation
- ↑ Birds of prey station Berg am Irchel Website of the birds of prey station Berg am Irchel
- ↑ Thurauen Nature Center Website of the Thurauen Nature Center
- ^ Orangutan Conservation Program website from PanEco
- ↑ Environmental Education Centers website from PanEco
- ↑ Financing website of PanEco
- ↑ Achievements of PanEco Website of the PanEco Foundation