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World Zoos of Australia
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Stay updated on what IZE members in Australia and New Zealand are doing to promote conservation efforts in their areas. Learn about education programs, browse the list of IZE members and their regions, and find contact information for the Regional Representative.

IZE Regional Report
By Regional Representative Sean Coleman
(February 2011)

2010 proved to be an exceptional year for Australasian zoos and aquaria, with collaboration between institutions on conservation campaigns a highlight.

• Taronga Conservation Society launched a sustainable seafood campaign, Fish4Life, with the use of technology a key aspect.
• Auckland Zoo led a campaign that influenced Cadbury chocolates to apologise to the community and remove palm oil from chocolate products within Australia and New Zealand.
• Adelaide Zoo celebrated the arrival of the Giant Pandas and the development of a state of the art sustainability education centre.
• Werribee Open Range Zoo launched a community trade program titled Beads for Wildlife, which has now been adopted by Melbourne Zoo and Healesville Sanctuary. Sales of these spectacular beaded items has generated more than $100,000 for the communities of Melako, Northern Kenya.
• 14 zoological institutions continue to collaborate on the Zoos Victoria led community conservation campaign They’re Calling on You. Collectively, zoos and aquaria have diverted more than 35,000 phones from landfill and have raised more than $60,000 through the refurbishment of old mobile phones to support primate conservation. Zoos Victoria received a high commendation from the United Nations Environmental Awards for They’re Calling on You, and Monarto Zoo continues to promote the campaign with their newly acquired Chimpanzees.
• 69 Victorian primary and secondary schools have signed up as They’re Calling on You institutions, returning almost 4,400 phones to Melbourne Zoo.
• Melbourne Zoo launched Seal the Loop, a campaign which uses recycled plastics to create Seal the Loop bins for the safe disposal of otherwise discarded fishing line, netting and tackle. The bins are currently installed in 20 locations around the Victorian coastline, with Zoos Victoria currently seeking funding to expand the program.
• Wipe for Wildlife, a rather cheeky campaign (pun intended), was launched at Healesville Sanctuary, with the aim of converting households and schools to 100% recycled toilet paper. Initial data from the onsite campaign has been incredible, with 91.4% of visitors encountering the campaign message during their visit, and 33% of those who did not use recycled toilet paper pre-visit, reported switching when called one month later. The other exciting statistic is that the larger than life superhero, Crapman, was the most effective way of communicating the message onsite, followed closely by the parrot show.

In other exciting news, Jane Goodall will visit Australia in June, visiting Taronga Zoo, Zoos South Australia and Melbourne Zoo. Jane will be a keynote speaker at a media event on the impact of coltan mining and promoting the importance of recycling mobile phones. She will also be keynote on Zoos Victoria’s lecture series on great ape conservation, and may visit the soon to be relocated bachelor group of gorillas at their new home at Werribee Open Range Zoo.

As regional representative, I thought it vital to include the following data from Rachel Lowry’s last regional report. Don’t Palm us Off has been an outstanding success for all institutions involved. Schools have been key players in the campaign, with letters being written by classes and individual students asking their local members to support the Truth in Labeling Bill. With the submissions closing on 11th February 2011, the Senate Committee has commented that many have occurred as a result of Zoos Victoria and Don’t Palm us Off.

Don’t Palm Us Off

Several zoos including Zoos Victoria, Perth Zoo, Auckland Zoo, Adelaide Zoo, National Zoo and Taronga Zoo campaigned for legislation change to support orang-utan conservation. The Don’t Palm Us Off campaign communicated the following message to Australia and New Zealand:

"You have the right to choose food products that don't destroy Orang-utan habitat, yet you currently do not have the choice. T ell Food Standards Australians New Zealand that you want palm oil labeled on all food products. Tell them don’t palm us off."

The Don’t Palm us Off Campaign led by Melbourne Zoo and supported widely by other zoos aimed to:

• Raise public awareness about the palm oil crisis exposing the link between food products and orang-utan survival in the wild.
• Change food-labeling legislation in Australia and New Zealand to mandate the labeling of palm oil on all food products.
• Develop a market driver for sustainable palm oil driven by consumer choice.

Indicators utilised to measure success of objective 1 are:

• More than 130,000 people responded to the call to action between August 2009 and July 2010.
• Public awareness data collected by PhD student Elissa Pearson (Social Scientist from University of South Australia) assessed community awareness prior to the campaign versus during the campaign indicating a rise in awareness from 53.4% to 97% amongst zoo visitors.
• Media generated by the campaign reached a range of audiences with several high profile media articles generated throughout the campaign period.
• More than 31,000 people joined the campaign Facebook page.
• Melbourne Zoo’s campaign website (www.zoo.org.au/palmoil) received more than 38,000 unique viewers.
• Tiger Airways extended the campaign call to action through their database and website reaching more than 10,000 people.
• Don’t Palm us Off was showcased within the New York Times demonstrating the geographical reach of the campaign.

Indicators utilised to measure success of objective 2 are:

• A bill titled Truth in Labeling (Palm Oil) - 2009 was introduced to parliament by Senator Nick Xenophon, co-sponsored by Senators Barnaby Joyce and Bob Brown. The Bill requests mandatory labeling of palm oil and was inspired by the Don’t Palm us Off campaign. It now sits with the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs.
• Several zoos accepted the invitation to put forward a submission to the Food Labeling review process commissioned by the Australian Federal Government. This review process continues and submissions are currently being reviewed.

Indicators utilised to measure success of objective 3 are:

• 5 of the major 6 major importers of palm oil into Australia made public time-bound commitments to switch to certified sustainable palm oil by 2015 during the campaign period. Woolworths made additional commitments such as voluntary labeling. Both Unilever and Woolworths liaised with Zoos Victoria directly and confirmed that their decision was in response to a rise in community awareness, which they both attributed to the Don’t Palm us Off campaign and work of WWF.
• Green palm certificates purchased by food manufactures within Australasia increased during the campaign period, as did demand for RSPO certified palm oil.

Australia and New Zealand Membership List

The IZE Membership List is updated quarterly. This list was last updated September 30, 2011.

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