ZEISS Cooperations

BirdLife International is an international partnership of national bird conservation groups with a total of 13 million members. ZEISS is the official sponsor of the scientific work for BirdLife’s Red List, which comprises information on all endangered bird species and the level of the threat to them. The information is provided to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and included in their Red List of endangered plant and animal species.The findings form the basis for the different conservation activities.

Rockjumper Birding Tours offers professionally guided expeditions for nature lovers and bird watchers all over the world. Passionate and experienced tour leaders offer over 300 tours each year that lead to the world’s prime birding areas. Rockjumper Birding Tours provides the ultimate birding experience by ensuring that the tours are seamlessly organized, fun, educational, and support conservation initiatives.

The 24-hour birdwatching marathon aims to promote bird watching and raise funds for bird conservation. ZEISS supports several teams and helps host the opening ceremony. The event has raised over $500,000 in donations since 2014.

Birdability’s mission is to introduce people with disabilities and other health problems to the birding experience. ZEISS has been one of this organization’s partners since 2021, providing financial support as well as a variety of optical devices.

ZEISS is partnering with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to foster the next generation of ornithologists. Young Birders Weekend brings together young people who want to share and deepen their enthusiasm for birding.

eBird is a project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and a powerful online database that collects real-time data on the distribution and frequency of birds around the world. eBird thus provides a basis for a wide range of scientific questions and plays an increasingly important role in research, conservation and education. By supporting eBird and associated activities, we incentivize the participation in this citizen science project.

Together with the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI), ZEISS protects various migration routes across Israel. Measures include the renaturation of fish ponds, the construction of resting and feeding areas, and the preservation of food sources. As a result, numerous rare species are able to migrate to Africa each year along a safe route.

ZEISS has been supporting the NABU Nature Conservation Center near Lake Federsee for more than 20 years, including a permanent loan of binoculars that are used by the volunteers as well as visitors.

Since 2021, ZEISS has been supporting a BirdLife International project aimed at halting the decline of one of the world’s rarest shorebirds, the spotted greenshank (Tringa guttifer). In addition to general educational work and the formation of new local conservation groups in Thailand, the goal of this project is to strengthen the protection of Southeast Asia’s coastal wetlands.

Since 1907 the nature conservation association Jordsand has been committed to protecting seabirds and their habitats at the German north sea and Baltic coast by combining nature conservation with exciting nature experiences and profound research for seabird protection. As a non-profit nature conservation association it oversees 20 protected areas in northern Germany. The Jordsand association enhances coastal biodiversity with broader conversation approaches including special protection projects for endangered species. Its full-time as well as its volunteer ornithologists monitor breeding and migratory birds, clean up washed-up marine litter, protect the nature reserves from disturbances and take visitors on bird and seal watching tours. At the Biological Station Greifswalder Oie the Jordsand association operates Germany's most effective scientific bird ringing center.

As ground-nesting birds, grassland birds face extreme threats from nocturnal predators. Together with the Vorarlberg Nature Conservation Association, ZEISS has made it its mission to protect the populations of these birds through biotope management and intensive measures to defend against predators. As a result, numerous successes have already been achieved at the local level.

Africa is home to eleven species of vultures, whose populations have unfortunately declined by 65% to 80% over the last 20 years. There are many causes, including poisoned carrion, poachers, and power lines. To improve the situation for vultures, ZEISS cofinanced the development of a prototype of a safe and guaranteed poison-free feeding station for endangered vultures and birds of prey in northern Kenya.