WCC 2020 Res 064 - Activity Report

We have collaborated with colleagues from RARE to plan an event to share relevant case studies, gather data on the support needed by the conservation community to enact behaviour centred design and build an understanding of the importance of behaviour centred design in achieving conservation goals. This event is planned to go ahead in December 2022, pending approval as a BCD side-event.

In May 2022 we met with the sustainability leads and CEOs of a number of major restaurant and coffee shop chains in the UK to educate them about palm oil and how to source it more sustainably.

In September 2022 we held a training event for sustainability and procurement staff in our major suppliers of food and beverage to explain the process of sustainable procurement with regard to palm oil. We will be offering this course to other companies in the food and drink and retail industries.

We have delivered a broad programme of behaviour change focused work. In particular our Sustainable Palm Oil Communities work, which is now working in 8 areas across the UK to influence supply chains and create communities where sustainable palm oil is the norm, reducing threats to rainforest species impacted by unsustainable palm oil production. In August 2022, in collaboration with the World Association of Zoos and Aquaria, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo USA and Auckland Zoo New Zealand, we launched the 'Palm oil scan' app which enables consumers to scan products as they shop and discover the extent to which the parent company seeks to follow sustainable procurement when it comes to palm oil. The aim is to create consumer demand for responsible procurement regarding palm oil and encourage companies to stop sourcing palm oil from sources that are continuing to contribute to deforestation.

Through our Nature Recovery Corridor project in Cheshire, UK, we have worked with 12 schools and community groups, as well as a number of land owning partners, to support changes in the way green spaces are managed for wildlife, and developed plans to extend this work across a larger area working with more diverse communities and land management stakeholders. This sits alongside a broad programme of education interventions at the zoo, online and in communities close to the zoo and in countries where we work around the world.

We have sought funding from corporate partners to support our sustainable palm oil work, including support for dedicated staff posts to deliver our sustainable palm oil communities programme which now covers eight towns, cities and counties across the UK. We have successfully obtained support from the UK government’s Green Recovery Challenge Fund to support our Nature Recovery Corridor work to the end of March 2023. We are now seeking major grant funding to continue and expand this work.

We have worked on two key policy areas relevant to the motion; Deforestation Free Commodities and education curriculum.
For deforestation-free commodities, we contributed to a UK Government consultation on proposed legislation that will require large companies to undertake due diligence across their supply chains in relation to deforestation risk commodities. We have lobbied a number of Members of the UK Parliament over this issue, inviting them to Chester Zoo to showcase our work and explain our position with regard to sustainable palm oil as an example of a major commodity with a certification scheme and a no deforestation standard. These included the then Environment Minister, Lord Zac Goldsmith, and the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle. Due to political instability in the UK Government this bill has not yet been drafted but it is still expected and our lobbying work to strengthen its provisions continues.
Regarding the education curriculum, we participated in a government consultation on The Department for Education’s strategy for sustainability and climate change for the education and children’s services systems (a direct promise following CoP26 in Glasgow), advocating for the need for greater focus on biodiversity and the importance of empowering young people to create change.
We also sponsored and participated in fringe events at each of the major political party conferences in the UK (Labour Party and Conservative Party) to discuss environmental concerns, with a particular emphasis on nature recovery, access to nature and promotion of deforestation free commodities.

With the University of Sheffield we are supporting a PhD candidate to research how we can effectively apply behaviour change theory to the measurement of zoo-led activities to empower people to live more sustainably.
A further 20 staff have been trained to deliver behaviour change interventions, after following a course led by University College London, Centre for Behaviour Change.