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WAZA Welcomes New Corporate Member – The Zoological Lighting Institute
Posted: 16 February 2022
The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) is pleased to welcome The Zoological Lighting Institute as a new WAZA Corporate Member.
The Zoological Lighting Institute (ZLI) is a non-profit organisation based in New York, United States of America. Its mission is “Supporting the Sciences of Life and Light through the Arts for Animal Welfare and Wildlife Conservation.” The organisation aims to protect animals and the communities that depend upon them by engaging related animal welfare and environmental challenges.
“We are delighted to expand our global community by welcoming The Zoological Lighting Institute as a new WAZA Corporate member,” said Dr Martín Zordan, Chief Executive Officer of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA). “As a global community committed to high standards of animal welfare and conserving biodiversity, we are able to further increase our impact by having more like-minded organisations like The Zoological Lighting Institute joining us.”
“In advance of joining WAZA, ZLI has been a proud sponsoring partner of the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA), and Conservation Partner to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). Stated ZLI’s Executive Director Dr James Karl Fischer, “Nothing happens without partnerships, good will, and financial support. We are very grateful to JAZA and AZA for the generous hospitality that gave us our start, and now enthusiastically embark upon this new stage of growth thanks to the hand of friendship offered by WAZA.”
ZLI works on the critical but under-attended arena of light as it affects living things. “Although the importance of natural light for biological and ecological function is widely understood within the scientific community”, Dr Fischer comments, “the science hasn’t been acted upon adequately in wildlife conservation or animal care. This means that scientifically monitoring light regularly in zoos and aquariums, accounting for such data in decisions while developing funds appropriately to support new and continuing research, is incredibly important. WAZA institutions are critical to bringing this all together.”
ZLI offers four means to advance the work of zoos and aquariums. First, ZLI offers equipment loans and grant co-authoring services to develop light related research in WAZA facilities, and to support the distribution of funding for photobiological researchers at WAZA facilities. Second, ZLI’s ZALA Animal Welfare Stations® provide an independent public exhibit to standardise internal animal welfare monitoring while presenting a profitable approach to animal welfare across multi-cultural contexts. Third, ZLI’s AWASH® programmes present a unique animal-welfare oriented approach to sustainable exhibition design and planning. Finally, ZLI’s PhotoDiversity Films®‚ offer WAZA facilities participation in anime and documentary film productions that demonstrate the value of WAZA work to the public in meaningful ways, based in ZLI Campaigns.
Organisations, companies, and individuals are encouraged to get in touch with ZLI in order to participate in this shared work by sponsoring endowments, grants, scholarships, donations of light monitoring equipment, and ZLI public outreach initiatives at the WAZA facility of their choice. These include investment opportunities in the three for-profit initiatives listed above (ZALA, AWASH, PhotoDiversity Films), as well as CSR Sponsorship Opportunities for educational programming such as New Moon Dining, Natural Light Excursion Therapy Tours, and PhotoDiversity Film Festivals
To learn more about The Zoological Lighting Institute, please visit: zoolighting.org
Contact: Stephen Villante, Communications Director at admin@zoolighting.org
The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) is the global alliance of regional associations, national federations, zoos and aquariums, dedicated to the care and conservation of animals and their habitats around the world.
WAZA is a member of the following organisations:
