Nominee Summary
Bird Gardens Scotland CIC is a zoo dedicated to the care and conservation of birds, including many endangered and threatened species from around the world. It has two core objectives: to support the conservation of the natural world; and to inspire and promote sustainable living. Through its growing number of conservation breeding programmes, it works to protect some of the rarest bird species from extinction. Its visitors and supporters help to protect these birds and the wild places they call home, and Bird Gardens is privileged to be able to play a part in giving these amazing birds a future.
What makes your nominee stand out?
Bird Gardens was designed to be an informative, recreational green space, where visitors can view birds such as emus, white peafowl, black swans, kookaburras, scarlet ibis, rainbow lorikeet, golden pheasant, lovebirds and wide varieties of ducks, geese and hens. There is even the opportunity to participate in a unique 'Flamingo Experience', which involves hand-feeding Chilean flamingos. Endangered species living on site include the eclectus parrot, classified as ‘vulnerable’ by the IUCN, and Shetland ducks (‘critically endangered’). Bird Gardens has also expanded its original focus on birds, and as well as looking after wallabies, poison frogs, bearded dragons and other animals, it is now working to raise £50,000 to build a home for 40 rare and endangered tortoises that arrive through various routes, such as airport confiscations. Social benefits are numerous: with two playparks and a classroom indoors with a kids’ seating area and books, the environment is ideal for families to visit. In a world dominated by screen-time, a visit to Bird Gardens helps to get children outside and introduce them to the natural world, while also facilitating quality time together for family units. The visitor centre cafe is hugely popular: all cakes and traybakes are produced on site, as is the jam used for home baking; and the shop stocks one-off pieces by artists and crafters from across Scotland. Finally, multiple online reviews testify to Bird Gardens' appeal. One visitor summarised it as "Beauty, tranquillity and conservation with incredible cakes! This is a bird sanctuary with true heart."
Changes that have been implemented
As a community interest company, Bird Gardens continues to future-proof its work by offering both paid employment and volunteer roles, giving community members the opportunity to serve in areas such as animal husbandry; horticulture; construction; catering; and tourism and the visitor experience - while also building a skilled workforce that is committed to supporting conservation and sustainability. In addition to donating raffle prizes to support fundraising activity for community bodies (such as the LJ Dance Academy in Duns), Bird Gardens welcomes numerous visits from schools and community groups representing a wide range of demographics, from Scout packs to branches of Scottish Women’s Institutes, and others. Bird Gardens recognises too that community involvement encompasses not just site visits, but also outreach, and efforts in this regard have already begun: the head zookeeper recently attended an evening meeting of a community group in Midlothian to introduce group members to the work of Bird Gardens, for example. Work is in train to further develop and roll out a formal programme of outreach into the community. Finally, inclusion is one of Bird Gardens’ core values, and it does everything that it can to accommodate the diverse needs of visitors, volunteers and staff; in addition to participating in the Breastfeeding Friendly Scotland Scheme, the grounds are accessible and wheelchair-friendly. Perhaps most notably, it has just installed a ‘Changing Places’ facility: a specialist bathroom designed for individuals with profound and multiple learning or physical disabilities – the only such facility between Edinburgh and Newcastle.
Overcoming challenges
The challenges involved in transforming a seven-acre field into an informative, recreational green space that promotes the conservation and wellbeing of rare and endangered species were considerable. These included, for example, securing funding (the project was part-financed by the Scottish Government and the European Community Scottish Borders LAG LEADER 2014-2020 Programme), while also negotiating the local government approvals required to operate in line with regulatory requirements under the Zoo Licensing Act 1981. Following purchase of the site in 2014, the gardens opened in 2022, meaning that much of the work to build the gardens and visitor centre took place against the unique and unprecedented backdrop of the global pandemic. This compounded challenges in relation to the logistics of sourcing and commissioning skilled trades professionals. Bird Gardens is hugely grateful for the practical support provided by local volunteers and members of the international ‘Workaway’ scheme, in the creation and maintenance of a safe and secure site in which 6,000 trees have been planted; as well as two ponds, a boardwalk, nesting areas and boxes built. A further challenge was Bird Gardens’ commitment to be fully off-grid (no mean feat during Scotland’s winter months!), reinforcing one of its key objectives to inspire and promote sustainable living. To that end, its water is filtered rainwater, and the visitor centre – a straw bale building – has solar panels to capture and convert light into electricity, for the purposes of keeping livestock warm, catering, and maintaining the centre and its café.
