The Green Dragon Environmental Standard is awarded to organisations that can demonstrate effective environmental management and that are taking action to understand, monitor and control their impacts on the environment.

The Standard, which is structured into five ‘Levels’, allows organisations to gain a third-party certification that provides recognition of their environmental practices and demonstrates their commitments to sustainability, consideration of environmental impacts, compliance with legislation and environmental protection.

Level One evidences a commitment to Environmental Management, this required the Trust to conduct a comprehensive internal environmental review and collect and monitor carbon emission data over a twelve-month baseline period. This led to the production of an ambitious improvement plan which will drive a reduction in the environmental impacts of waste, electricity and travel – thereby reducing carbon emissions.

Dr Andrew Impey, Chief Executive at Essex Wildlife Trust, said: “Green Dragon accreditation represents an exciting opportunity to embed sustainability and innovation right across the Trust. It has provided us with a positive delivery mechanism that enables us to incorporate our five-year strategic plan. By role-modelling our own commitment to change, we hope to be able to demonstrate to our members, stakeholders, corporate partners and the public that day-to-day effectiveness does not have to suffer at the hands of change. On the contrary, we hope to illustrate that the benefits of change are many and varied – both personally and commercially.”

The Trust will now embark on Level Two Green Dragon accreditation; Understanding Environmental Responsibilities, which includes the initial build of an Environment Management System; a powerful tool to reduce waste and improve efficiencies.

Find out more about the Green Dragon accreditation, here.