World War Zoo gardens

World War Zoo gardens is a research project and recreation of a wartime "dig for victory" garden, created at Newquay Zoo in 2009 based on those created in many a zoo and botanic garden throughout Britain and Europe during and after World War II. The gardens project won a BIAZA national zoo award in November 2011.

The project investigates the similarities through creating an allotment of how zoos and people will deal with future resource shortages such as peak oil, food miles, climate change, sustainability, composting and recycling compared with the original wartime resource shortages of fuel rationing, food rationing and government salvage drives in many countries around the world. Food grown on the plot is used for animal feeding and scent enrichment, something also practised on a large scale in the market garden at Durrell Wildlife Park and the Verti-Crop automated hydroponics polytunnel at Paignton Zoo.

A similar comparative study project of learning lessons for climate change, peak oil, food and fuel security and resource shortage from the 1940s, known as "The New Home Front" has been set up in 2011 by UK Green Party MP Carolyn Lucas.

The World War Zoo garden was launched in 2009 at Newquay Zoo on the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of war on 3 September 1939 when zoos as places of entertainment across Britain were closed and some animals euthanized (in response to expected air raids). Research is heavily based on archive accounts in newspapers and official histories and memoirs of staff at zoos such as London Zoo, Chester Zoo, Chessington Zoo, Maidstone Zoo (Closed. Was located at TQ 745 588.), Bristol Zoo, Dudley Zoo, Edinburgh Zoo, Whipsnade, Belle Vue Zoo (now closed) and Paignton Zoo, sister zoo to the project headquarters at Newquay Zoo.

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