|
These updates bring you the latest news on developments within the Zoo and Aquarium Association (formerly ARAZPA) Accreditation Program.
The accreditation program has been rolling along smoothly. Since August 2007 there have been six site reviews undertaken. So far, four institution assessments have been presented to the Board for their consideration with the other two amidst usual process. There are four institutions scheduled for early 2008 and hopefully this year will be as productive as 2007.
ARAZPA advertised for accreditation officers to join the team in late 2007 and received some interest. Thank you to those zoos who are supporting their staff, and in turn the program, in becoming accreditation officers. Our members cannot achieve accreditation without the participation of experienced industry individuals working together for the program. I look forward to the accreditation officer training day on Friday March 14, post the 2008 ARAZPA conference.
ARAZPA welcomes two new provisional members, Whistling Ponds Native and Exotic Bird Sanctuary, Australia (associate) and Keystone Wildlife Conservancy, New Zealand (full). Our two newest members were granted provisional membership in the beginning of August 2007. Both of these institutions bring valuable knowledge and resources to the Australasian region and we look forward to working closely with these organsations in the future. Congratulations and welcome to the ARAZPA network.
Whistling Ponds Native and Exotic Bird Sanctuary is a privately owned institution that was founded in September 2004 and is located just south of Perth in Western Australia. Whistling Ponds currently specialise in breeding native waterfowl and are currently working with CALM to assist South West Cape Baron Goose conservation. Whistling Ponds also envisage branching out to incorporate conservation plans for exotic species in the near future.
Whistling Ponds is not yet open to the public although plans to open within the next five years see the inclusion of educational programs for both primary and secondary school groups. Whistling Ponds are enthusiastic about helping people understand the role of captive breeding to assist with the preservation of native and exotic fauna.
Whistling Ponds looks forward to developing close relationships with Australasian zoological institutions through the contribution of valuable species specific knowledge and also by working intimately with organisations that also focus on endangered bird species conservation.
Keystone Wildlife Conservancy is a subsidiary of the Keystone Trust (est. 1997) and can be found 40 minutes North West of Auckland, New Zealand. The Keystone Wildlife Conservancy was formed in October 2005 with a view to expand the current collection, primarily domestic ungulates and native and exotic birds by including exotic ungulates with a view to support ex-situ conservation programs within the Australasian region.
Keystone is a 1000 acre property that has diverse interests including a farming history, long running collaborations with the art community and the promotion of natural history through the implementation of extensive regeneration and reclamation programs.
Keystone are open to community groups, by prior arrangement, primarily art education groups but envisage future collaborations that include other educational programs, including appropriate utilisation of the site as a resource for the development of the zoo keeping certificate. Keystone aims to contribute to the zoological community by participating in regional species management programs and by providing a wonderful foundation for future conservation and research projects.
After the successful accreditation of Adelaide Zoo and Symbio Wildlife Park, there has been an overwhelmingly positive response from all ARAZPA institutions eagerly waiting to participate in the Accreditation Program.
A draft accreditation schedule for the coming five years has been circulated to all institutional members and all comments to date have been positive. This year’s accreditation roll-out resumes with the third institution undergoing a site review in August. By the end of December, the ARAZPA Accreditation Team will have conducted another seven site reviews. The current reviews will be primarily carried out on existing member institutions with one new Provisional Member institution being assessed.
Specific program documents are being revised to assist with streamlining the site review application process for provisional and member institutions. The aim is to simplify the procedure for the institution under review, when asked to provide the relevant detailed documentation.
Thank you and well done to all the institutions and Accreditation Officers for their enthusiastic support over the last two months. This has enabled the program to gain rapid momentum, and has set the pace for the implementation of future timetables.
Two successful full accreditation site visits took place, in January and February 2007, at Adelaide Zoo and Symbio Wildlife Park. These institutions were selected to provide the Accreditation Committee with an indication of the various accreditation issues as relates separately to a small privately owned institution, and medium-sized not-for-profit institution. In March, the Board accepted the Accreditation Committee's recommendation to grant accreditation to the two institutions.
The inaugural Accreditation Officer training seminar took place during the ARAZPA conference in Wellington. This seminar trained the first intake of fifteen Accreditation Officers, selected and invited by the Committee.
The Accreditation program is now scheduled to roll out over the coming five years, as outlined in the original accreditation program proposal. This means we have five years to complete a full accreditation cycle: i.e. to accredit all ARAZAPA members. Based on current membership, we will need to accredit zoos at a rate of fifteen per year to achieve the five year cycle. Some membership growth is likely over the coming years, influencing this rate. However, based on past growth rates it seems unlikely that membership will substantially exceed 100 institutions before 2012, and this may represent the upper limit of our membership.
With the first intake of fifteen Accreditation Officers, we will aim for accreditation of a further ten institutions in the initial year. With annual seminars to train new Accreditation Officers, and retrain existing Accreditation Officers, accreditation capacity will be increased over the subsequent years.
Provisional members, those joining after April 2005 when the Accreditation Standards were formally accepted by the membership, can not participate as full ARAZPA members (e.g. are not involved in the ASMP). These institutions have not had a prior history as part of the ARAZPA network, and often represent somewhat an unknown quantity.
Therefore, these institutions represent the first priority for accreditation. There are currently three Provisional Members able to be accredited, (a fourth Provisional Institution remains under development). The aim is to accredit all three institutions within the first year.
The aim will be to accredit a further seven existing members within the first year. These will be selected on the basis of:
- Accreditation 'readiness'
- Geography and availability of trained Accreditation Officers
- Opportunity and cost of site review.
The more the membership is engaged with the accreditation process, the more the implications of undergoing accreditation will be understood, as will be the need to manage a roll out of accreditation over the coming five years. During the upcoming year:
- we will be developing an information package for all members further addressing these issues
- the Accreditation Committee will be seeking 'expressions of interest' in early, mid-term or late accreditation to incorporate in the overall accreditation schedule.
The Accreditation Committee met for two days in August to discuss the final phase of the development and implementation of the ARAZPA Accreditation Program. The first day’s agenda covered a review of program development to date; discussions about Accreditation Officer selection and training; identification of procedures and documentation to be developed; and general planning and approval of the work plan for this phase.
The Committee spent the second day of the meeting at the Australian Reptile Park, Gosford doing a trial ‘walk-through’ of a site review (visit). This learning exercise provided the Committee with a greater practical understanding of what a site review will involve, and this experience will assist in refining the processes and documentation for accreditation visits. Many thanks to John and Robyn Weigel and all the staff at the Australian Reptile Park for their time and assistance.
Another important outcome of the Committee meeting was the decision to complement the current accreditation documents with an ARAZPA Animal Welfare and Conservation statement, with a more comprehensive Accreditation Guide, and also to develop a manual for Accreditation Officers.
A work plan and implementation target date was finalized at the Accreditation Committee meeting. Development and fine tuning of the program’s processes and documentation will occur over the next six months. If this development phase is successful, the aim is to hold information session(s) and Accreditation Officer workshop(s) at the ARAZPA Conference in March 2007. Full implementation of the program, including the commencement of site reviews of member institutions, is planned from April 2007. This will mark the beginning of the first five year accreditation program cycle.
Member institutions are encouraged to read the two existing ARAZPA Accreditation Program documents currently on the website to refresh their understanding of the Accreditation Program’s purpose and their knowledge of the Standards that each member institution will be expected to reach to gain accreditation.
Following the appointment of an Accreditation Program Coordinator in May and a revised Accreditation Committee in June, the ARAZPA Accreditation Program now moves into the next stage of development and implementation.
ARAZPA would like to thank the outgoing members of the Accreditation Committee - Al Mucci (Dreamworld), Tony Billing (Westshore Wildlife Reserve) and Kevin Mason (Healesville Sanctuary) – for their important contribution to the development and introduction of the Accreditation Program, Standards and Guidelines. To ensure continuity in the program’s development, Erna Walraven (Taronga Zoo/Chair) and Colin Hyde (Perth Zoo) remain on the Committee and will be joined by Michael O’Brien (Cairns Tropical Zoo) and Stephen Standley (Hamilton Zoo).
The focus of the revised Committee is on the final components of the program and then developing a full implementation plan. The key tasks of this next development phase include:
- Recruitment of a volunteer network of ARAZPA Accreditation Officers
- Development and delivery of training for ARAZPA Accreditation Officers
- Preparation of procedures for accreditation visits
- Guidelines to assist member institutions to prepare for accreditation
- Trialling and refining the procedures and materials developed.
ARAZPA will continue to communicate with members and provide updates on the development of the Accreditation Program through the website, emails and ARAZPA Newsletter.
 Accreditation information
Accreditation Program ( 88 kb)
Accreditation General Standards ( 144 kb)
|