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| Formation | 1946 |
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| Type | Conservation charity |
| Headquarters | WWT Slimbridge, Gloucestershire |
Founder | Sir Peter Scott |
Key people |
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Revenue |  £27 million GBP (2022) |
Staff (2023) | 420 |
Volunteers (2023) | 881 |
| Website | www |
The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) is an international wildfowl and wetland conservation charity in the United Kingdom.
The trust was founded in 1946 by the ornithologist and artist Sir Peter Scott as the Severn Wildfowl Trust.
The first site at Slimbridge was a centre for research and conservation. In a move unusual at the time, he opened the site to the public so that everyone could enjoy access to nature. [1] [2]
This organisation later developed into the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, the only United Kingdom charity dedicated solely to promoting the protection of wetland birds and their habitats. [3] Although starting out at Slimbridge, the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust now owns or manages nine other reserves in Britain, [4] and advocates for wetlands and conservation issues world-wide. WWT Consulting was an offshoot of the Wildlife & Wetland Trust and was based at Slimbridge. It provided ecological surveys and assessments, and offered consultancy services in wetland habitat design, wetland management, biological waste-water treatment systems and the management of reserves and their visitor centres. [5] The Queen in later years became patron to the trust, and Prince Charles became the president. [6]
The trust was instrumental in saving the nēnē (Hawaiian goose) from the brink of extinction in the 1950s. [7]
The trust has over 200,000 members and ten reserves with visitor centres. Together these cover over 20 km2 (7.7 sq mi), and support over 150,000 birds. They receive over one million visitors per year. The reserves include seven SSSIs (site of Special Scientific Interest), five SPAs (Special Protection Areas) and five Ramsar sites.
In 1962 the first Nene geese, a species that at that time was threatened with extinction, were returned to Hawaii after a 25-year effort by the Trust, with the species later being downgraded from endangered to threatened on the IUCN Red List. [8]
In 2009 the trust was instrumental in saving the Madagascan Pochard from the brink of extinction in Madagascar. [9] In 2006 a total 20 birds were discovered with the species previously thought to have been extinct. WWT and the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology hatched several clutches of eggs in captivity, and released the 21 birds onto Lake Sofia in 2018.
Together with partners and funders, RSPB, Pensthorpe Conservation Trust, [10] and Viridor Credits, the trust reintroduced Common Cranes to the UK in 2010. [11] The Great Crane Project successfully hand-reared and released 21 Eurasian cranes into the wild in England. The species had been absent in the UK for 400 years. As of 2022 there are over 200 cranes and hatchlings. [12]
WWT's aviculturists’ started hand-rearing critically endangered spoon-billed sandpiper chicks, and reared 16 in northern Russia in 2013, which boosted the global number of fledglings by 25%. [13]
In 2014 the trust completed its Steart Marshes Project, creating 488 hectares of healthy wetlands [14] which works to defend homes and businesses from flooding in a way that works with nature, not against it.
Lead shot ammunition used for wildfowl shooting was banned in European wetlands in 2020 following WWT’s scientific research and a campaign by WWT and partners. [15] The new law came into full effect on 15 February 2023.
At one time, the trust operated a consultancy business that provides external clients with a comprehensive range of wetland services. These included ecological survey and assessment, habitat design and management, visitor centre planning and design, and wetland treatment systems. [16]
The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust is a registered charity in England [17] and Scotland. [18] Sarah Fowler became the chief executive of the trust in March 2022. [19] Her predecessor was Martin Spray, who was appointed in March 2004. [20] In December 2012, Spray was appointed CBE. [21] [22]
Sir Peter Markham Scott, was a British ornithologist, conservationist, painter, naval officer, broadcaster and sportsman. The only child of Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott, he took an interest in observing and shooting wildfowl at a young age and later took to their breeding.
WWT Caerlaverock is wetland nature reserve in southwest Scotland, one of ten reserves in Britain operated by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust founded by Sir Peter Scott.
Caerlaverock is a national nature reserve (NNR) covering parts of the mudflats and shoreline of the Solway Firth about 10 km south of Dumfries, in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It lies between the River Nith and the Lochar Water, and consists of a variety of wetland habitats including bare mud and sand, merse and marshes, and is fringed by neutral grassland on the landward side. A nature reserve was designated in 1957 at the instigation of the Duke of Norfolk. The NNR covers an area of 82 square kilometres (32 sq mi) and is an internationally important wintering site for waterfowl and wading birds.
WWT Arundel is one of ten wildfowl and wetland nature reserves managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, a nature conservation charity in the United Kingdom. The 60 acres (24 ha) reserve is situated at the foot of the Offham Hangar, a part of the Arun valley in Arundel, West Sussex, England.
WWT London Wetland Centre is a wetland reserve managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in the Barnes area of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest London, England, by Barn Elms. The site is formed of four disused Victorian reservoirs tucked into a loop in the Thames.
WWT Llanelli Wetland Centre at Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales is one of ten wetland nature reserves in the UK managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, a nature conservation charity. The visitor centre has accessible toilets, a coffee shop and retail area. During school holidays, there are nature-based activities and events.
WWT Martin Mere is a wetland nature reserve and wildfowl collection managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust at Tarlscough, Burscough, Lancashire, England, on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, 6 miles (10 km) from Ormskirk and 10 miles (16 km) from Southport (Merseyside). It is one of ten reserves managed by the charity, and it is designated an SSSI, an SPA and a Ramsar Site.
WWT Slimbridge is a wetland wildlife reserve near Slimbridge in Gloucestershire, England. It is midway between Bristol and Gloucester on the eastern side of the estuary of the River Severn. The reserve, set up by the artist and naturalist Sir Peter Scott, opened in November 1946. Scott subsequently founded the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, which has since opened nine other reserves around the country. Slimbridge comprises some 800 hectares of pasture, reed bed, lagoon and salt marsh. Many water birds live there all year round, and others are migrants on their ways to and from their summer breeding grounds. Other birds overwinter, including large numbers of white-fronted geese and increasing numbers of Bewick's swans.
WWT Washington Wetland Centre is a wetland reserve managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust at Washington, Tyne and Wear, North East England.
Ouse Washes is a linear 2,513.6-hectare (6,211-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest stretching from near St Ives in Cambridgeshire to Downham Market in Norfolk. It is also a Ramsar internationally important wetland site, a Special Protection Area for birds, a Special Area of Conservation and a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I. An area of 186 hectares between March and Ely is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire and another area near Chatteris is managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust manages another area near Welney.
Bridgwater Bay is on the Bristol Channel, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north of Bridgwater in Somerset, England at the mouth of the River Parrett and the end of the River Parrett Trail. It stretches from Minehead at the southwestern end of the bay to Brean Down in the north. The area consists of large areas of mudflats, saltmarsh, sandflats and shingle ridges, some of which are vegetated. It has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) covering an area of 3,574.1 hectares since 1989, and is designated as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. The risks to wildlife are highlighted in the local Oil Spill Contingency Plan.
Nene Washes is a 1,522-hectare (3,760-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the bank of the River Nene east of Peterborough in Cambridgeshire, England. It is also a Ramsar internationally important wetland site, a Special Area of Conservation, a Special Protection Area and a Nature Conservation Review site. An area of 280 hectares is managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The total area of the Ramsar site is 1,517 hectares.
The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire (WTBCN) is a registered charity which manages 126 nature reserves covering 3,945 hectares. It has over 35,000 members, and 95% of people in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire live within five miles of a reserve. In the year to 31 March 2016 it employed 105 people and had an income of £5.1 million. It aims to conserve wildlife, inspire people to take action for wildlife, offer advice and share knowledge. The WTBCN is one of 36 wildlife trusts covering England, and 46 covering the whole of the United Kingdom.
RSPB Dearne Valley Old Moor is an 89-hectare (220-acre) wetlands nature reserve in the Dearne Valley near Barnsley, South Yorkshire, run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). It lies on the junction of the A633 and A6195 roads and is bordered by the Trans Pennine Trail long-distance path. Following the end of coal mining locally, the Dearne Valley had become a derelict post-industrial area, and the removal of soil to cover an adjacent polluted site enabled the creation of the wetlands at Old Moor.
Cranes are large, long-legged and long-necked birds of the order Gruiformes. Two species occur as wild birds in Great Britain: the common crane, a scarce migrant and very localised breeding resident currently being reintroduced to the country, and the sandhill crane, an extreme vagrant from North America. A third species, the demoiselle crane, has been recorded on a number of occasions, but these birds have not generally been accepted as being of wild origin.
London Wildlife Trust (LWT), founded in 1981, is a local nature conservation charity for Greater London. It is one of 46 members of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts, each of which is a local nature conservation charity for its area. The Trust aims to protect London's wildlife and wild spaces, and it manages 36 nature reserves in Greater London. The Trust provides education services for schools. Local groups work on reserves and organise walks.
Felicity Philippa, Lady Scott was a British wildlife conservationist.
Alastair James Driver FCIEEM is an English ecologist, conservationist and rewilding specialist. He is an Honorary Professor of Applied Environmental Management at the University of Exeter. He was the National Conservation Manager for the Environment Agency and was appointed as Director of Rewilding Britain in 2017. He is the creator and voluntary warden of Ali's Pond Local Nature Reserve in Sonning, Berks, which carries his name.
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