Academy History

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  "Thus the Trust would become a form of university ...where people can get the correct training...and then take their talents back to form conservation units throughout the world"     
                 
  Gerald Durrell, 1976, The Stationary Ark

  Our founder, Gerald Durrell, believed that saving species from extinction was as much an art as a science. One of his greatest ambitions was to create a training centre which would unite these two disciplines and provide conservationists worldwide with the skills they need to prevent species extinctions. It was a dream come true when, one summer’s evening in the early 1980s, he played croquet with ten students from ten different countries on the lawn at Les Noyers, the training centre he established at Durrell’s headquarters in Jersey.
  

  To date we have trained over 6,000 students from 151 countries who have learnt from some of the world’s leading conservation practitioners in the art and science of species conservation. 

  Map showing the location of our global community of conservationists trained at Durrell.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Supporting the development of Conservation heroes

  Our long history of training has resulted in some notable conservation pioneers and heroes. A good example of this is  Claudio Valladares-Padua, the first Brazilian trainee of the 1982 DESMAN course. Inspired by his training in Jersey, Claudio co-founded the Institute for Ecological Research (IPE), which is now one of Brazil's largest environmental NGO. The Institute carries out programmes including rare and endangered species research and actions, environmental education, and sustainable alternatives for income generation in local communities.  Claudio has gained considerable recognition for his work, winning the prestigious Whitley Award in 1999 and was voted Conservation Hero of the Planet by Time Magazine in 2003. IPE is one of Durrell's key conservation partners, combining expertise to save the Endangered Black lion tamarin. Educating future generations of Brazilian conservationists is very important to Claudio and since 2006, we have trained 11 IPE employees here in Jersey, strengthening capacity in Brazil, to carry on his legacy.
  

  
  

   "It's almost 40 years since I went to Jersey however some of the things I learned there are still influencing my work. It is there that I created the basis for all the good things I have done in my career.

  
  

   It gave me the tools to create a real impact in the conservation world." 

  
  

  Watch the following interview of Claudio as he reflects on the training he received at Durrell and the work he now achieves.