Zoo puts forward £70m plan for conservation park
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How it could look: Plans for the Sumatra rainforest at the proposed Bristol Zoo Conservation Park
Bristol Zoo’s plan to create the first conservation-led animal visitor attraction in the UK has been put before business leaders in the city.
Members of the Institute of Directors (IoD) yesterday heard how the project, started before the recession, needed to raise £70million to turn the ambitious project into reality.
The 55-hectare park, scheduled to open by 2017, will be the first conservation-led animal visitor attraction of its kind in Britain and aims to set a new benchmark for how zoos can support conservation.
It will be divided into exhibit areas which take visitors on a geographic journey to areas including the Congo Tropical Forest, Sumatra Rainforest, British Ancient Woodland and Indian Ocean Coral Reef.
Through its design, the park will enable visitors to get close to animals within their natural habitats and understand more about the natural world and the impact humans have on it.
Sallie Blanks, Deputy Project Manager at Bristol Zoo, said she was confident that the money would be found, but acknowledged the huge challenges ahead.
“I have tried saying it slowly. I have tried saying it fast. I have tried saying it backwards — it doesn’t help. It is still a lot of money,” she told the IoD members.
Before the meeting, Bristol IoD Chairman Nick Sturge said: “To set such a big fundraising target in the current financial climate is ambitious indeed. Our members, I am sure, will be fascinated as to how this business model has been drawn up and executed.”
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