Bellewaerde was Laureate Sustainable Entrepreneurship for the third year in a row in June via the VCDO program that is organized by VOKA in collaboration with CIFAL and the Provincial Development Agency. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) defined by the United Nations are used as a guideline in this process.
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals do not only aim for a positive impact on the environment and energy. There are also goals in the field of biodiversity and social and societally relevant goals have been defined.
Some projects realised by Bellewaerde: launch of a programme to reduce occupational accidents and increase employee well-being; various measures, actions and investments to significantly reduce the CO2 footprint; reintroduction into the wild of highly endangered animal species in the context of the biodiversity objective; installation of a unique research platform for highly endangered Rothschild giraffes; installation of our own water purification plant to purify all waste water 100% locally, etc.
Due to the three-year laureateship and the significant efforts in the field of sustainability in the broadest sense of the word, the jury of sustainability experts has awarded the SDG PIONEER Award to Bellewaerde.
Stefaan Lemey, General Manager of Bellewaerde: “ Sustainability in the broadest sense has long been part of Bellewaerde’s DNA. The VCDO process has forced us to dig deeper and address the gaps in our sustainability policy concretely and to the point. For the Bellewaerde team, the SDG PIONEER certificate is a reward for the many efforts and investments of the past years and is simultaneously a catalyst to do even better in the future! ”
Source and more information: www.bellewaerde.be/park/nl