Toronto Zoo Community Conservation Centre
The Toronto Zoo Community Conservation Centre will be a prominent and visually stunning statement of our commitment to conservation science.
This state-of-the-art facility will be located just outside the admission gates. With access to anyone who wants to explore and learn about conservation science, the Centre will be a highly engaging, fun, interactive and educational place of learning, a place where everyone can connect with nature.
Consisting of two new Net Zero buildings, the complex will include an educational building with four classrooms, four laboratories, offices and meeting space for students and educators. The second building will feature an engaging river otter habitat, a new home for the Blanding’s turtle headstarting program, retail space, a rooftop atrium, and an Indigenous welcome garden.
Toronto Zoo Community Conservation Centre
The Toronto Zoo Community Conservation Centre will be a prominent and visually stunning statement of our commitment to conservation science.
This state-of-the-art facility will be located just outside the admission gates. With access to anyone who wants to explore and learn about conservation science, the Centre will be a highly engaging, fun, interactive and educational place of learning, a place where everyone can connect with nature.
Consisting of two new Net Zero buildings, the complex will include an educational building with four classrooms, four laboratories, offices and meeting space for students and educators. The second building will feature an engaging river otter habitat, a new home for the Blanding’s turtle headstarting program, retail space, a rooftop atrium, and an Indigenous welcome garden.
Why
Community Engagement
Community Engagement
The Indigenous medicine and welcome garden, and in fact the whole Community Conservation Centre, will be located outside the admission gates, meaning that anyone who wants to visit to enjoy the garden, turtles and otters and other displays can do so free of charge.
We anticipate families and friends to gather within the pavilion, throughout the garden, or on the atrium, enjoying immediate connection with nature as they begin or end their day with us.
Flexible and appealing, we will activate the space to promote education and engagement.
Education
Education
Toronto Zoo educational programs are designed to emphasize the importance of collaborating with other youth and connecting with nature to enhance social-emotional well-being.
By working with Toronto Zoo scientists and educators in the new Toronto Zoo Community Conservation Centre, youth will develop critical thinking skills and improve their self-confidence, which ties into long-term skills for life and for the workplace.
Partnerships with colleges and universities will enhance impact and we are working closely with University of Toronto Scarborough and Centennial as this unfolds
Indigenous Medicine & Welcome Garden
Indigenous Medicine & Welcome Garden
The rooftop atrium and Indigenous medicine and welcome garden will be a visual display of our vision and mission.
Designed strategically as a stunning demonstration of the Zoo’s mission—connecting people, animals, conservation science and traditional knowledge to fight extinction, this front building will also include the river otters and endangered turtle programs.
Located outside the admission gates, anyone who wants to visit to enjoy the garden, turtles, otters and other displays can do so free of charge.
We anticipate families and friends gathering within the pavilion, throughout the garden, or on the atrium, enjoying an immediate connection with nature as they begin or end their day with us.
Turtle Headstarting
Turtle Headstarting
Our most significant project at present is the headstarting and release of Blanding’s turtles, a Threatened species in Ontario. This project builds on Toronto Zoo’s work to restore a healthy population of Blanding’s turtles in our neighbouring Rouge River Watershed.
Blanding’s turtle hatchlings are reared at Toronto Zoo, giving them a ‘headstart’ at life by ensuring that their eggs and juveniles survive their most vulnerable life stages. Juveniles are released annually into the Rouge River Watershed and monitored post-release. This work is complemented by educational initiatives, including public outreach, workshops for professionals, and the development and distribution of species guides which are broadly distributed.
Our Blanding’s turtle headstarting program will be relocated to the Toronto Zoo Community Conservation Centre, with public viewing galleries and interactive displays allowing for community engagement while highlighting the Zoo’s commitment to conservation.
Quick Facts
square feet of space for new classrooms, laboratories, offices, and meeting spaces for students and educators.
headstarted Blanding's turtles released annually.
million in partnership with the City of Toronto.
of funding coming from Toronto Zoo Wildlife Conservancy donors.
square feet of space for new classrooms, laboratories, offices, and meeting spaces for students and educators.
headstarted Blanding's turtles released annually.
million in partnership with the City of Toronto.
of funding coming from Toronto Zoo Wildlife Conservancy donors.
Our Vision
Contact Us
Where hope meets action:
As we confront the dual challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss, we are fuelled by a profound sense of optimism, confident in the Zoo’s expertise and ability to drive meaningful, lasting change.
Contact us to learn more:
Alison Kenn, Campaign Manager
416-392-5983
akenn@torontozoo.ca