Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust
Sights and sounds of nature
Visitors to the London Wetland Centre get to leave the hectic city behind and enjoy an oasis of stunning scenery and colourful water birds. Our grant of £25,000 will fund the upgrade of the three-storey observatory tower that overlooks the wetlands in Barnes, Southwest London.
Improvements include bigger windows and better furnishings. Information panels will also be revamped so they appeal to more people, including those with little experience of wildlife watching or knowledge of nature. The new panels encourage visitors to understand the key conservation issues of our time, such as biodiversity loss and climate change, inspiring people to take action.
- Our grant of £25,000 will fund a major upgrade of the observation tower at the London Wetland Centre, making it a more welcoming, inspiring and educational space for visitors.
- Less than 10% of visitors – 17,000 – use the current observatory tower.
- The aim is that a third of visitors – 56,666 – will benefit from the new observatory, and that visitor numbers will also increase overall.
Space in nature
The new and improved observatory tower will help attract more visitors and encourage them to spend longer at the Wetland Centre – a perfect place to enhance their mental health and wellbeing.
When the tower is finished, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust will train volunteers to be “guides in the hide” so they can help visitors identify wildlife and learn about nature.
“We hope our grant will diversify and increase London Wetland Centre’s user base and engage
more people with nature and wildlife conservation.”
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