News
Parliamentarians strike off Severn Barrage concept
Madeline Moon MP, Kate Jennings (RSPB) and Charles Walker MP meet at Westminster MPs and environmental groups have united in their call for the Severn Barrage concept to be abandoned, calling instead for a renewed foc
19 June 2013
Gardeners urged to repel invaders as weather warms up
Gardeners buying plants as spring warms up are being urged to choose water plants which won’t get out of hand in gardens and invade local wetlands. Garden pond species like Water Primrose evolved in tropical climates. In the UK it can form huge dense ma
25 April 2013
First crane nests in the South West in 400 years
Common cranes are nest building in the South West of England for the first time in 400 years, after being reintroduced to the region by the Great Crane Project. Cranes are large and colourful birds who perform amazing courtship dances and trumpeting calls
6 April 2013
WWT welcomes move to prevent another Ash Dieback situation
(c) Trevor Renals The British countryside will be safer from invasive plants following a decision by the government to ban the sale of certain exotic species. The move has been welcomed by the Wildfowl & Wetlands
29 January 2013
WWT welcomes lead poison review
WWT has welcomed the Government’s announcement to review the progress of the Lead Ammunition Group, of which WWT is a member. The Group was set up in 2010 in response to urgent concerns about the toxic effects of ammunition made of lead, which is a pois
24 January 2013
Severn Barrage would cause 'massive change to the estuary'
A proposal to build a Barrage across the Severn Estuary would be "such a massive change to the estuary that we do need more information”, WWT Chief Executive Martin Spray has told MPs. The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT), RSPB and Angling Trust told
10 January 2013
Flooding – New guidance could help protect homes and wildlife
People and wildlife could be better protected from Britain’s worsening flooding problems and even use them to gain a range of benefits through new guidance published today. The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) and RSPB have developed a guidance manua
10 January 2013
Today's sightings
Today’s highlights include; 12 little egret, 405 lapwing, 61 redshank, 46 snipe, 24 shelduck, 168 wigeon, 37 shoveler, 54 teal, 2 goldeneye, 5 water rail, 4 little grebe, kingfisher, peregrine, buzzard, sparrowhawk, 2 reed bunting, treecreeper, goldcres
27 December 2012
Threatened swans boosted by bumper breeding season
Threatened Bewick’s swans are returning from their Russian breeding grounds with the most young that ornithologists have seen in more than a decade. Surveys of the swans’ UK wintering sites, such as the Ouse Washes and WWT Slimbridge on the Severn Est
24 December 2012
Cold weather prompts late swanfall at Slimbridge
The sudden change in the weather has prompted an overdue influx of endangered Bewick’s swans to the WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre in Gloucestershire. The swans migrate from arctic Russia each year to spend the winter at Slimbridge, the former home of co
3 December 2012
The latest on lead - a thank you for your support
A big thank you to everyone who has signed our petition calling for an end to the use of lead shot in shooting and raised awareness of the damage that spent lead gunshot causes to wild birds who eat it, mistaking it for grit. Your support has already made
19 November 2012
We've lost 44 million birds since 1966, including an average of 50 house sparrows every hour
Since 1966, we’ve lost breeding birds from our countryside at an average rate of a nesting pair every minute, say a group of conservation organisations in a report published today (Monday 19 November, 2012). These shocking statistics are contained in th
19 November 2012
Government scores poorly on tackling drought risk
The risk of flooding and water shortage in 2013 has increased because the Government is too slow in changing the way we manage our water, environmental leaders warn. The authors of the ‘Blueprint for Water’ report say that after two dry winters, it to
6 November 2012
Lead shot poisoning - more voices say look for alternatives
Concerns that lead poisoning from gunshot can affect animal and human health have widened, following a scientific paper by the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) which suggests a third of waterbirds sampled suffer from lead poisoning through eating lead
23 October 2012
NGOs meet with Peter Hain to raise concerns about Severn Barrage
WWT and a group of environmental and angling Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) met today with Peter Hain MP to raise their concerns about the impact of a tidal power barrage which he is championing for the Severn Estuary. The Severn Estuary is one of
17 October 2012