By means of the popular sera annual calendar, which is created every year together with our great social media community, we aimed to make a valuable contribution to wildlife protection. Therefore, this year’s calendar is dedicated to the motto “Together for wildlife conservation” and, for the first time, it was not available for free but was sold for €1 in participating pet stores.

Together, with the support of pet stores and the sera social media community, we managed to sell more than 20,000 calendars! The sera management has generously rounded up the amount to €25,000. Many thanks to those who supported us and of course to everyone who bought the calendar. Without them, this would not have been possible.

We are pleased to support various projects around the world with the proceeds from the calendar. The donations were distributed to three organizations and projects, each being supported with €5,000, and five other organizations, each receiving €2,000.

The first donation was handed over at the Cologne Zoological Garden. Professor Dr. Ziegler received the cheque from Simon Gierlings and Oliver Helker (both from sera). The donation amounting to €5,000 will be used to set up a breeding center for endangered freshwater fish in Vietnam. Professor Dr. Ziegler is the Head of the Aquarium at the Cologne Zoological Garden and, as the coordinator of various nature conservation projects in Vietnam and Laos, he also regularly provides support in Asia.
The Aquazoo Löbbecke Museum in Düsseldorf also received a cheque amounting to €5,000 to support the Breeding and Protection Center for Amphibians. Amphibian species that are threatened with extinction are bred here in order to preserve them for future generations.

We were warmly welcomed at the Aquazoo Löbbecke Museum by Director Dr. Jochen Reiter, Deputy Director Sandra Honigs and Philipp Schroeder, who is responsible for marketing. After handing over the cheque, we were given an exclusive guided tour at the Aquazoo, as well as interesting insights into the breeding centers for amphibians and the aquarium section.

The third organization that benefited from €5,000 is the Goodeid Working Group, abbreviated to GWG. The GWG is an international association of private aquarists, zoos, and institutes, which (among other things) is committed to the conservation of the endangered Mexican Goodeids. As part of various projects of the GWG, the fish are not only bred, but also – already very successfully – reintroduced. The donation goes to the University of Morelia in Mexico and the money will support local species conservation and reintroduction projects for Goodeids.

On behalf of the entire group, we met Ronny Vannerom, the Regional Group Coordinator of the GWG in Belgium, where he was giving a lecture at a local aquarium club in Maaseik. The Belgian aquarist is an experienced breeder with more than 20 years of experience and a long-time member of the GWG.

Further donations were handed over throughout Europe. Jeremy Gloesener visited Antwerp Zoo in Belgium, Héctor Gutiérrez and Alan Albiach were at the Acuario de Zaragoza in Spain, José Bernabeu at the Aquario Vasco da Gama in Portugal, and David Brenot in Bessières in France.

Carmelo Arico hands over a futher €2,000 to the project “Che Storione” of the Costa Edutainment Polo Adriatico Group. It supports the conservation of the last wild sturgeons (Acipenser naccari) in the Adriatic. The bred animals are regularly released into the wild in order to support the wild populations.

Further information and updates on the supported projects are regularly shared on social media.
Preparations are already in progress for next year’s calendar. Due to the success and all positive feedback from the current calendar, this edition will once again focus on species protection and support new projects. Photos for publication in the calendar can be submitted by e-mail to socialmedia(at)sera(dot)de until June 30, 2024. We are looking for the most beautiful photos from the aquarium, terrarium, and garden pond sections.