Wildlife Habitat Council- Awards

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Corporate Lands for Learning^SM Award

WHC Award and Accreditation Applications

CLL of the Year and CLL Rookie of the Year

The Corporate Lands for Learning of the Year award is designed to recognize a site for outstanding environmental education, stewardship and voluntary employee efforts. The candidates for the awards are generated from the pool of applications for certification and recertification. The WHC Certification Review Committee nominates each candidate, and the nominees’ applications are submitted to a panel of independent professional judges for review and decision. Nominees and winners are chosen based on the following criteria:

Eligibility
Sites that are applying for Corporate Lands for Learning (CLL) certification and recertification are considered for this award.

The Rookie of the Year for Corporate Lands for Learning award is designed to recognize a newly-certified CLL site for outstanding environmental education, stewardship and voluntary employee efforts. The candidates for the awards are generated from the pool of applications for first-time certification to the CLL program. The WHC Certification Review Committee nominates each candidate, and the nominees’ applications are submitted to a panel of independent professional judges for review and decision. Nominees and winners are chosen based on the following criteria:

Eligibility
Sites that are applying for the first time for Corporate Lands for Learning (CLL) certification are considered for this award.

Requirements and Selection Criteria for both of these Awards include:

Sound Curriculum – The curriculum employed by the site is designed to teach students about wildlife habitat and biodiversity protection in a way that promotes investigation, critical thinking and team building.
Scope of Projects – The curriculum uses the habitat to teach and engages the students in multi-disciplinary education including subjects such as language, social studies, math and art in addition to science.
Level of Commitment – The wildlife team should be highly committed, demonstrated by the contribution of time, effort, and resources relative to the size of the site. Commitment is also reflected by the Hours of Active Learning that take place at the site.
Outside Group Involvement – The wildlife team should involve the community in designing, implementing and evaluating the CLL program. This can occur through actively involving educators, non-governmental organizations, governmental agencies and youth group leaders (e.g. 4-H and Scouts) on a regular basis.
Length of Involvement – The Review Committee will examine the program based on how long it has been maintained with or before involvement of WHC, and/or how long it will take to implement and achieve the program’s stated goals.
Credibility – The program should stand up to scrutiny by members of the conservation and education professions and provide a model for other companies.

Honor Your Community Partner!

Each year, WHC opens the floor to nominations for being named the prestigious Community Partner of the Year. In 1998, WHC first introduced this award, which goes to one organization or individual for making a significant contribution and lasting impact on a corporate site's wildlife habitat enhancement programs through hands-on environmental awareness and enhancement activities.

Companies nominate local partners who help plan, implement and sustain their site’s programs, which in itself is an honor. The nominees and winners are recognized at the Annual Symposium. Visit the Registry of Certified Programs to learn more about meaningful wildlife habitat management and environmental education programs implemented by companies at individual sites.

Directory of WHC Awards

Fife Plant wins Corporate Lands for Learning
Rookie of the Year Award, 2009

The ExxonMobil Chemical Limited manufacturing plant in Fife, Scotland received the coveted Rookie of the Year Award at the Annual Symposium in November 2009 for its many education projects certified under the "Corporate Lands for Learning” (CLL) banner of the Wildlife Habitat Council. During the 1990’s, several employees took the initiative to establish and maintain an environmental pond at the southeast corner of the site. Work on the pond began in 1997 when some of the Fife plant’s employees recognized the potential to develop a habitat for local wildlife at the plant and enlisted the help of a local Primary School to assist with the design and development of the pond which has now become a thriving eco-system.

Fife Air Cadets help plant trees at the ExxonMobil; Fife Ethylene Plant.

Today the volunteer team now offers local Primary Schools an opportunity for hands-on study. The pond is equipped with nets, sampling equipment and work stations for pupil use. During a visit to the pond, visitors witness a wide variety of wild life including sticklebacks, tadpoles, frogs, diving beetles, greater- and lesser- water boatman, and many other pond creatures. In an average year the team will host 36 - 38 visits from local schools and have in excess of 1,000 children visit to participate in “pond dipping” studies that correlate with local curriculum standards.

In 2006, a partnership with a local conservation group, the Fife Air Cadets Conservation Group, was formed with the intention of creating a 5 year plan for the creation of wildlife habitats, educating today’s youth in how to conserve the environment, and to increase the species of trees and plants onsite. Employees having a similar interest in the outdoors and wildlife got together to steward and promote the conservation group members and to create habitats onsite.

All the education initiatives at the Fife facility support the needs of the community, but also correlate with the environmental stewardship and community involvement goals of ExxonMobil. Believing that biodiversity conservation can be balanced with economic development through careful management of environmental impacts, ExxonMobil incorporates biodiversity protection through their Environmental Business Planning (EBP) to limit impacts in sensitive areas.

The certification in Corporate Lands for Learning celebrates a 20-year history of the Fife employees working closely to serve with local communities in the region, providing countless hours of volunteer time, financial support and educational assistance. The corporate-wide vision of ExxonMobil was adopted as the motto of the volunteers of the CLL programs at the Fife Ethylene Plant Corporate Lands for Learning program: “Protect Tomorrow. Today.” The team is dedicated to educating and empowering young people so they may understand the importance of natural resources and act in an environmentally responsible manner.