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The Zoological Society of London (ZSL), operator of ZSL London Zoo and ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, has gained ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS) certification.

ZSL achieved certification in March 2009. Subject to satisfactory surveillance audits, this will be valid until March 2012.

About ZSL

ZSL is an international scientific, conservation and educational charity dedicated to conserving animals and their habitats.

ZSL London Zoo opened in 1828, two years after ZSL was founded by Sir Stamford Raffles. Originally a zoo for scientific study, it opened its doors fully to the public in 1947 and, in 2008, welcomed over 1.2 million visitors.

Located near Dunstable in Bedfordshire, ZSL Whipsnade Zoo welcomed over 475,000 visitors in 2008.

ZSL London Zoo has been awarded Silver in the Green Tourism for London scheme and ZSL Whipsnade Zoo is currently being graded for the Green Tourism scheme.

ZSL Goes for ISO 14001

Designed to constantly strengthen environmental performance, ISO 14001 is based on a plan-do-check-act cycle of continuous improvement, supported by ongoing internal and external audits.  

Sophie Townsend, Sustainability Manager at ZSL, says: “We went for ISO 14001 because we want to formalise the work we’re doing to reduce our environmental impacts. We were also attracted to this standard as its internationally recognised and we felt it would give us a good structure for our management system. In addition, by having an independently audited system, we wanted to ensure that we have a robust system in place, and that we’re making progress.”

SGS  Was “Recommended to Us”

ZSL chose SGS to carry out its ISO 14001 assessment. Sophie Townsend says: “SGS was recommended to us by our consultant, Passingham Associates, and we knew SGS had provided support for other zoos and similar institutions. We thought this previous experience would be beneficial to us with our complex sites and wide-ranging activities relating to our two zoos, an Institute of Zoology and our field conservation programmes department. SGS is also accredited by UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service), which we felt to be important.”

ZSL has been pleased with SGS’s service. “SGS has provided good support and we’ve found the assessors to be thorough and fair,” says Sophie Townsend. “SGS has often commented on the commitment and enthusiasm of our staff during audits and I’m sure this is helped by the approachable and pleasant nature of the assessors.”  

ZSL’s audit was led by Ray White, Senior Auditor EMS and QMS [Quality Management System] at SGS. For this, Ray was supported by Amanda Thorpe, a lead auditor at SGS with experience in auditing zoos. Ray White says: “We found ZSL to have a clear commitment to environmental management and improvement.”

SGS carried out a pre-audit, desk study and certification audit of ZSL’s EMS. This included assessing systems and processes, animal enclosures, a reservoir, and even ZSL Whipsnade Zoo’s steam railway.

“We had a good working relationship throughout – friendly and open – and the assessments went well,” says Ray White.

Environmental Initiatives

ZSL’s environmental initiatives include:

• Water consumption halved, and 30% more waste recycled, over the last five years
• New environmental targets, aimed at boosting recycling and saving energy and water
• Environmental awareness training for all staff
• Schemes and incentives to maximise staff involvement and encourage departmental initiatives
• Rainwater recycling, solar panels, green roofs and other environmentally beneficial installations
• Environmental events for visitors, such as the Recycled Sculpture Show at ZSL London Zoo and the Green Fair at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo.

Benefits for ZSL

ISO 14001 benefits ZSL in many ways, including:

• Constantly improving environmental performance
• Formalised processes, implementing procedures to ensure compliance with environmental legislation and organisational decisions that take the environment into account
• Greater staff awareness of, and involvement in, environmental issues
• The ability to benchmark with other zoos
• Recognition and approval from external partners and sponsors

Sophie Townsend says: “With a clearer structure to tackle our environmental impacts, we can now develop a more organisation-wide approach. While work was previously undertaken by various departments independently, our EMS to ISO 14001 standard enables us to address these issues in a more centralised, efficient and effective way. It will also help us with measuring, monitoring and target-setting across the whole organisation.

“ISO 14001 gives us greater confidence in the way we manage and operate our two zoos. We are increasingly using our sites to promote environmental responsibility and sustainability. Certification shows we ‘practise what we preach’ and that we’re constantly making progress.”

Ray White of SGS agrees: “ZSL’s ISO 14001 certification is a major achievement and puts ZSL up there with the leaders in its field.”

For more information please contact:

SGS United Kingdom Ltd
SGS House
217-221 London Road
Camberley
Surrey
GU15 3EY
United Kingdom
t: +44 (0) 1276 697999
f: +44 (0) 1276 697696
Email