CONTACT: CONTACT: Tom Gillespie FOR RELEASE: December 20, 2002 Telephone:
336-879-7202
N.C. Zoo Becomes First State Agency To Attain
ISO 14001 Environmental Certification
ASHEBORO, N.C.- The
North Carolina Zoological Park’s horticulture department has become the first
North American zoo department to achieve the Environmental Management System
(EMS) International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 certification.
The certification is an internationally recognized standard for the development
of a management system that addresses environmental issues.
Additionally, the N.C. Zoo’s horticulture department becomes only the
second zoo in the world to be certified for its compliance to the standard and
is the first state agency in North Carolina--and perhaps in the nation-to be
certified.
Most tasks that the zoo’s horticulture staff accomplish in
the park have some impact on the environment. The EMS has set in place a process
to study those activities, understand what has significance, and then set
achievable measures to improve or lessen the impact of those activities on the
environment.
The N.C. Zoo's efforts in reducing, reusing and recycling
materials began in 1989 with a conservation audit of the zoo's operations. Being
a conservation organization, it was important to make sure that daily operations
were carried out in a conservation-minded manner.
EMS ISO 14001
certification came about after the zoo participated in a class on developing
Environmental Management Systems for government agencies conducted by the
Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance. The class
provided a step-by-step process to develop an EMS and a coach. The zoo adopted
an environmental policy which it dubbed “GREEN”-an acronym for: Growth in
knowledge and continued improvement; Reduce the use of resources and waste
generation; Environmentally responsible and sustainable operations; Example to
others; and Necessary compliance with environmental laws and regulations.
“EMS certification provides an external set of checks and balances to
assure continued improvement toward sustainability,” said Gin Wall, the zoo’s
curator of horticulture. “EMS ISO 14000 provides validity and recognition of the
zoo's environmental program” The ISO 14000 family of standards on environmental
management was developed to provide a practical toolbox to assist in the
implementation of actions supportive to sustainable development. The Zoo's other
departments are also working on their compliance to the standard. "I am very
proud that the zoo's horticulture section is not only the first North Carolina
state agency to achieve ISO 14001 certification, but is also the first zoo in
the United States to do so," said Bill Ross, secretary of the N.C. Department of
Environment and Natural Resources. DENR is the department of state government
that operates the zoo.
"DENR is the lead agency within state government
charged with the preservation and protection of North Carolina's outstanding
natural resources, and one of the zoo's primary missions is to make visitors
aware of the connections between humans and the world's animals, plants and
natural resources,” Ross added. “With this underlying mission, it is most
appropriate that the zoo has formalized its dedication to the environment by
putting together a tool to manage its activities so as to preserve and protect
North Carolina's natural treasures."
The North Carolina Zoo is an agency
of the N.C. Department of Environment & Natural Resources, William G. Ross
Jr., Secretary; Michael F. Easley, Governor.
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