Expeditions and organisations wishing to collect tissue and DNA samples for the Frozen Ark should contact Frozen.Ark@nottingham.ac.uk for advice about the recommended methods of collecting the samples. Arrangements can be made to borrow equipment from the Natural History Museum, London.

Donations

Each contribution of £350 will enable us to store the DNA of one endangered species for the long term, and each £500 will enable us to preserve its viable cells. A single donation of about £6,000,000 or US$12,000,000 would support the Frozen Ark Project in perpetuity.

Contributions can be made by cheque to 'The Frozen Ark Project' and sent to Dr. Ann Clarke, The Frozen Ark Office, School of Biology, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD. Because we are a charity, we will be able to claim back UK tax from the Inland Revenue if you fill in the appropriate Gift Aid form. You can also donate to the Frozen Ark by credit card or PayPal on the 'Donations' page.

The latest list of threatened species from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature shows the urgent need for sampling.

According to the IUCN there are about 40 species extinct in the wild but held in zoos. Some of them have been re-introduced to parts of their former ranges but their futures are insecure, and taking samples from them has a high priority.

If you have preserved tissue or DNA of an endangered species, or if you have access to these species, please contact the Frozen Ark at Frozen.Ark@nottingham.ac.uk.

We are in the process of getting the collection of samples for the FA as a recognised 'ex situ activity' of the world's zoos and aquaria to be included as one of their 'integrated conservation activities' first laid out in WAZA's 2005 Conservation Strategy document. We believe this association will become a major force in the successful collection, distribution and use of genetic material for zoo and aquaria conservation breeding programmes.

Collection of Samples from Zoos and Aquaria

In zoos and aquaria, samples are being taken post mortem and from living animals when they are undergoing veterinary treatment from various sources - male and female gametes, tested, ovaries, embryos, surplus animals (e.g. tadpoles) tissues, feathers, hairs, body fluids, buccal smears, umbilical cord and placental tissue.

The future of the Frozen Ark

The projects work becomes even more urgent as predictions of loss of species accelerate. To do this we need to collect and store samples from at least 10,000 species by 2015. To achieve this we need to expand the rate of sample collection. We believe to do this we need a fourth group to join our cause, the conservation community to collect samples for the FA from the animals in your care. This collaboration could be modelled in a similar way to that being developed with zoos and aquaria. There is not substitute for conserving single species and no substitute for conserving ecosystems or enters of biodiversity and hot spots. However, the history of animal conservation has shown us that in spite of these things happening successfully around the world, species have continued to go extinct. Some habitats like the coral reefs. The icecaps and probably the majority of the rain forests cannot be conserved. What do we do about this? We believe we have to have the Frozen Ark.

In the words of Edward O Wilson 'We should preserve every scrap of biodiversity as priceless while we learn to use it and come to understand what it means to humanity'