• Function: Chair
• Company: World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) Deforestation-Free Commodities Representative

Cat Barton chairs the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) Deforestation-Free Commodities Working Group. Working alongside the WAZA working group team, she co-developed the WAZA Palm Oil Scan app, which is now used in six countries and continues to expand. Her key interests and specialisations are in commodity-driven deforestation, sustainable agriculture, and supply chains.

In August 2008, she joined the Science Directorate of Chester Zoo, a WAZA member, and has since developed a strong network of national and international stakeholders aiming to drive sector change to protect tropical rainforests and reduce deforestation, benefitting biodiversity and combatting climate change. She leads and advises on Chester Zoo’s deforestation-free commodities work, aiming to alleviate conservation challenges on the ground and drive change in producer and consumer countries by working with stakeholders from local communities to governments, certification schemes and manufacturers.

Cat is responsible for developing research and field projects that link wildlife conservation with sustainable agriculture and forest risk commodities in Brazil, Indonesia, and Malaysia, focused on palm oil, coconut oil, and soy. She co-created the ‘Sustainable Palm Oil Communities’ project, an ambitious community-based behaviour change programme with the aim of driving a cultural shift towards deforestation-free sustainable palm oil to protect wildlife. This project saw Chester become the world’s first Sustainable Palm City, and is currently working with other communities across the UK to expand the programme internationally. Cat sits on the RSPO Alternate Board of Governors as an NGO representative for WAZA.