Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust

Description

The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, known as WWT, is a UK charity dedicated to restoring wetlands and protecting wetland wildlife.

It was founded in 1946 by the ornithologist and artist Sir Peter Scott, first as the Severn Wildfowl Trust based at Slimbridge. It is the only UK charity focused solely on protecting wetland birds and their habitats. WWT now owns or manages ten wetland reserves across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and advocates for wetlands and conservation worldwide.

The Trust runs conservation programmes to save threatened species, having helped bring back the Hawaiian goose, the Madagascan pochard and the Eurasian crane, and it reared spoon-billed sandpiper chicks in Russia. It led research and campaigning that helped ban lead shot ammunition in European wetlands. Its reserves are open to the public and draw over a million visitors a year.

WWT relies on members, volunteers and staff across its sites and headquarters, and it also carries out wetland science and evidence-based conservation work. It has previously offered ecological survey, habitat design and wetland management consultancy services to external clients.