Northumberland College’s zoo, at Kirkley Hall Campus, has been awarded the prestigious Green Tourism accreditation, recognising its outstanding commitment to sustainability, conservation and responsible environmental practice.
The zoo, a specialist BIAZA-accredited training facility was awarded the status by Green Tourism, the UK’s leading sustainability accreditation body, which champions environmentally friendly practices across businesses, hospitality and the wider tourism sector.
As part of its submission, specialist staff at Northumberland College Zoo provided a comprehensive portfolio of evidence and worked directly with experts from Green Tourism to showcase the attraction’s outstanding environmental and sustainable credentials, high standards of animal care and visitor experience.
Part of the country’s top performing land-based college, Northumberland College Zoo gives students hands on experience in zoo management and livestock husbandry of over 200 species of animals including lemurs, marmosets, meerkats, bush dogs, Asian leopard cats and more, as well as a wide range of domestic, exotic and avian species.
Zoo visitors can meet the keepers and the students, learn about the animals and their habitats, and take part in a series of exciting, family activities. Featuring picnic and play areas, feeding and handling experiences, as well as being a ‘keeper for a day’, the zoo offers a fun day out in beautiful Northumberland countryside.
Steven Sykes Resource Manager at the Zoo, who worked closely with the Green Tourism Assessment, said: “We are incredibly proud to have achieved the Gold Award for Green Tourism. To have achieved this level of success reflects our commitment to sustainability and re-enforces the work we do daily with our staff and students.
“The team including our students have worked so hard to create a wonderful zoo for our visitors.”
England’s first Destination Development Partnership Pilot, Destination North East England, a partnership between the region’s visitor economy organisations and all seven local authorities provided fully funded memberships of Green Tourism to encourage more businesses to engage in sustainability and regenerative tourism practices. This comes off the back of the creation of a ‘world-first’ regenerative visitor economy framework, which has since influenced regional and national policy.
Destination North East England was a UK Government funded pilot led by NewcastleGateshead Initiative on behalf of the region, working with delivery partners Visit Northumberland and Visit County Durham and in partnership with all seven local authorities to unlock the growth potential of the tourism industry. The soon to launch regional body Experience North East England will build on the pilot to help achieve the region’s ambitions of doubling the value of the visitor economy.
David McDonald, Environment & Sustainability Assessor at Green Tourism, said:
“We were so impressed by Northumberland College Zoo’s clear commitment to sustainability across its operations, from its strong focus on conservation and environmental management to the way it actively engages both staff and students in responsible practices.
“The integration of sustainability into a hands-on learning environment really stood out, as did the high standards of animal care and visitor experience.
“The Gold Award is a well-deserved recognition of the team’s hard work and dedication, and on behalf of everyone at Green Tourism, I would like to congratulate Northumberland College Zoo on this fantastic achievement.”
Ian Thomas, interim Chief Executive at the recently renamed Experience North East England added: “Sustainability and regenerative tourism are at the heart of our ambitions to grow our visitor economy in a way that protects, promotes our people, places and planet.
“It’s fantastic to see more and more of our visitor economy businesses and organisations joining the regenerative tourism journey, helping to ensure the region leads the way in delivering inclusive, sustainable and unforgettable trips for generations to come.”
The Zoo has also joined several other award-winning Northumberland tourism hotspots over the years at the Destination North East England Tourism Awards with LNER. The prestigious awards ceremony now in its 25th year, celebrates the best places to taste, explore, stay and experience in North East England.
Every year, the best of the North East’s tourism industry are recognised in the North East Tourism Awards. Last year, Northumberland College Zoo won the ‘Best Small Visitor Attraction’ award, recognising its role in bringing more visitors to the area through animal encounters, daily talks and even the option for visitors to be a zookeeper for the day.
We are the largest further education provider in Northumberland with campuses throughout the county.
Our student transport scheme is available for eligible students to make getting to and from college as easy as possible.
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