The director-general of Jerusalem Biblical Zoo Shai Doron (Israel) and the director of Nordens Ark zoo Mats Höggren (Sweden) visited Feldman Ecopark. The specialists of the Regional Landscape Park presented the ongoing projects of Ecopark to the foreign colleagues, as well as its development strategy. The special interest of the guests was aroused by the social projects of Feldman Ecopark aimed at psychosocial rehabilitation and at the work with children.
According to Shai Doron, the experience of Feldman Ecopark in this field is unique, and it would be good to spread it among other zoos worldwide. “I’m visiting Ecopark for 11th time, and every time, I see a big progress. Today, I would like to specify the projects in the area of education, interaction with society and rehabilitation. The team of Ecopark must be proud of what has been reached during such a short period,” he emphasized. “5-6 years ago, I brought specialists from Israel here for them to train the workers in the animal-assisted therapy. And I’m just amazed with what you were able to achieve in this direction. It is just wonderful how people are treated here, in particular the families with children with special needs. I always tell about the social projects of Feldman Ecopark in every zoo I visit.”
Shai Doron emphasized that there is still a lot to work on, for example, the reconstruction of enclosures. “But I have the feeling that Feldman Ecopark has a wonderful team, which is able to achieve all goals during the short term,” he added.
“It is my first visit to Ukraine and I didn’t know what to expect. But the main thing I’ve seen in Feldman Ecopark is thousands of visitors, who continue coming here. I’ve heard about educational and rehabilitation programmes of Ecopark, but after the visit, I’m just astounded with the scales. It is just amazing! I’ve found out about great number of rehabilitation programmes, about clubs for children, and this impresses. I will definitely borrow several useful ideas to implement them in Sweden,” Mats Höggren told.
He also noted that Nordens Ark and Feldman Ecopark have some features in common, in particular the fact that both are the non-profit charitable organizations, and therefore there is a huge potential for co-operation. The possible directions of joint work include the preservation of rare species of animals. It is the main field of activity of Swedish zoo, which is also important for Feldman Ecopark.
