Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) - London
I want to start off by saying that Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) is a very important conservation project of the past century. There are a few centres around the United Kingdom and Ireland. WWT (Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust) | WWT
The one I am going to write about is the London centre.
Image Credit: WWTDid you know this centre was opened by the one and only, my hero Sir David Attenborough! He is the WWT's Vice President.
The more I started to look at the history of how and where this started the more fascinated I became! But first let me explain how WWT came about...
Does anyone remember the famous Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott? Well I knew about this explorer from school as we had studied his expeditions and I previously read up on him. Here's a link to explain who Captain Scott was; Robert Falcon Scott - Wikipedia
Image Credit: google images
Image Credit: google imagesYou may be wondering what this has to do with WWT... Well let me explain this cool fact!
The founder of WWT was Sir Peter Scott who was a conservationist. Some people describe him as the 'father of conservation'. Sir David Attenborough has previously stated he was conservation's 'patron saint'.
Image Credit: WWTSir Peter was probably the most influential conservationist of the 20th century and the first to be knighted in 1973. Sir Peter was the son of Robert Falcon Scott.
Robert Falcon Scott left a letter when he was dying to his wife (about his son) stating, "make the boy interested in natural history if you can. It is better than games...". As they say the rest is history as Sir Peter went onto make his mark in conservation work.
Sir Peter wanted to bring people and wildlife together for the benefit of both. He founded the WWT in 1946.
There are nine UK and one Irish WWT centres. The associated wetland conservation work worldwide, are a major part of Sir Peter's legacy. This includes saving the Hawaiian Goose from extinction
Sir Peter was the founder and first chairman of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in 1961 and originator of the Red Data Books listing endangered species in 1962. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Image Credit: WWT
The London WWT is a 105 acre site which was completely man made. It was built as one of the 21st century great conservation projects and the last vision of Sir Peter Scott.
Sir Peter painted the London WWT in 1989 before it became a reality. Below are pictures of Sir Peter and his painting as well as my baby brother with the painting. My brother really liked the painting as it had lots birds which he loves.
Image Credit: WWT
In 1989 four redundant reservoirs stood where the WWT London is now.
Before (Image Credit: WWT)
After (Image Credit: WWT)So where do I start? There is so much to see and experience that my one blog cannot do it justice. From watching Otters play to watching the birds come and go.
When I mean 'birds' I mean the type that you don't normally see in everyday life. From the Hawaiian Nene to the Grey Heron, there are so many different species of bird. There are so many different sounds you can hear of all the wildlife, which was incredible.
There are not just birds there are;
- Water Voles
- Asian small clawed otters (Tod and Honey)
- Smooth Newt
- Grass snakes
- Frogs
- Dexter cows
- Bees
- Butterflies
- Flowers
The bird watching from the observation points was the best part of the day.
You had to be very quiet (which my baby brother found a little bit difficult). We met a very nice lady who explained a lot of facts about the birds we were watching.
We really enjoyed the pond dipping and got all messy which we loved!
There was a Lego trail of different animals which me and my baby brother enjoyed looking for.
Me and my brother also enjoyed the Lagoon Bridge splashing in the water!
There also was an adventure playground, where at the end of the visit we had great fun!
I would recommend visiting any of the WWT centre's as they are so much fun and you get close to nature. If you visit not only will you have a great day out you will also be supporting this important conservation project and nature.
I have included lots of pictures for you to see. However, this cannot replace the experience we had as it was my best nature day out so far!
