Paignton Zoo
In August we went to Paignton Zoo Environmental Park, who were previous overall award winners of the DEBI awards in 2008. DEBI members were given a chance to see behind the scenes of one of the most beautiful and largest zoos in England. One of the interesting projects that the zoo has undertaken has been the Verticrop project, a sustainable hydroponics installation, the first of its kind in Europe.
As the zoo spends in excess of £200,000 a year on animal feed this is a project with the ability to have a large impact on the zoo’s footprint. Recent figures are suggesting the benefit over traditional field crops of up to 20 times over while requiring as little as 5% of the normal water supply. As well as looking at this, we were also taken to the crocodile swamp, where a biomass boiler and rainwater harvesting systems are working to reduce the operational impact of the enclosure.
