Laura Gardner, from The Wildwood Trust, has been named ‘Woman of the Year’ by the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA). Gardner, the director of Conservation and Rewilding at a Kent wildlife charity has been given this prestigious prize at the BIAZA national awards ceremony, which recognises outstanding achievements in the zoological world.
In her current role at The Wildwood Trust, which has wildlife parks in Kent and Devon, Gardner has led on a number of innovative and award-winning projects from the globally acclaimed Blean Bison project to the reintroduction of the red-billed chough.
She beat off stiff competition from 28 experts representing 18 zoos and aquariums from across Britain, to win the first-ever “Woman of the Year” category. This new award has been designed to showcase the immense contribution of women in championing nature and conservation. Dr Jo Judge is the CEO of Biaza:
“We’ve been so thrilled by the quality of nominations for BIAZA Woman of the Year, and Laura is a shining example of going above and beyond not just for the zoo sector, but for measurable conservation action and wildlife.”
Leading without ego
Having started her career, at the age of ten, volunteering at her local zoo – Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust – Gardner later honed her skills at Birdworld, followed by 24 years at Leeds Castle’s aviary. Prior to her role at the Wildwood Trust, Gardner was a bird curator at ZSL Whipsnade and London. Accepting her award, Gardner said:
“I really didn’t expect to win – to be nominated was amazing in itself. I was absolutely blown away by the number of amazing, powerful, dynamic, intelligent women leading conservation and zoological collections today.
It’s great to be part of this world and I’m so proud. On International Women’s Day, I want to give a shout to all the incredible women that work in this field.”
Gardner was nominated by the conservation team at Wildwood. In support of her nomination, Paul Whitfield, the charity’s director general, said:
“Laura has an incredible ability to bring people together from different organisations to work collectively for the good of our native species. She leads without ego and builds trust, confidence and a shared sense of purpose. She goes above and beyond for her team at Wildwood and, as a result, they are delivering some of the most innovative and exciting native species conservation projects in the UK.”
‘What is Conservation?’ – the Wildwood Trust podcast
The award announcement comes in the same week that Wildwood Trust launched its very own podcast, with Gardner paving the way as a guest on the inaugural episode “What is Conservation?”
The Wildwood Podcast will feature interviews with leading conservation and rewilding experts and will highlight the important work taking place to fight the biodiversity crisis, halt the extinction of species and create resilient habitats in which nature thrives.
About Wildwood Trust:
As a leading British animal conservation charity, The Wildwood Trust’s mission is to protect, conserve and rewild British Wildlife. Our ground-breaking conservation programmes currently include Wilder Blean, a joint project with Kent Wildlife Trust, to bring bison to the Blean Woods and the reintroduction of the red-billed chough.
The Wildwood Trust runs Kent and Devon’s best British wildlife parks – home to over 200 native animals, past and present, and each site is set in 40 acres of beautiful ancient woodland. Across our parks, visitors can see bears, wolves, bison, deer, owls, foxes, red squirrels, wild boar, lynx and many more animals.
About BIAZA:
The British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) is a conservation education and scientific wildlife charity, which acts as the principal professional zoo body representing the responsible zoo and aquarium community in the UK.
BIAZA zoos and aquariums have a global impact, participating in over 800 conservation projects, 1,300 research projects and contributing more than £28mn a year to field conservation. With over 30 million visitors being welcomed annually, BIAZA zoos and aquariums are recognised as offering a fun and safe way to learn about animals and together the community delivers formal education sessions to more than 900,000 students.
BIAZA and its members are a powerful force in the care and conservation of the natural world. Collectively, they endeavour to inspire people to protect our planet’s rich biodiversity and deliver high-quality environmental education, training and research, whilst achieving the highest standards of animal care and welfare.
This article has been adapted from a press release.
