Nominate your favourite wetland. Reward a hero and win a day with a warden.
WWT are looking for the unsung wetland heroes of the UK. We’re proud of the wetlands we manage, but hundreds more small wetlands exist with the support of the communities that live around them.
We want to raise up and reward those who put in so much hard work for their local wetland and we need your help to do it. You are our eyes and ears on the ground. Where is that hidden gem of a wetland?
Nominate your favourite wetland before 15 April by completing the online form. A panel of experts will choose the best wetland and the person who manages it will be presented with the Marsh Award for Wetland Conservation, an award of £1,000.
And you could be a winner too. Everyone who nominates will be in with a chance to win a VIP day out with a reserve warden on one of WWT’s own wetland nature reserves.
Previous winner
Last year, WWT gave the Marsh Award to Somerset councillor Tony Moulin for managing the wetlands at Biddle Street on The Strawberry Line.
Around 35 acres, it has been made a Site of Special Scientific Interest since Tony started managing it. Young people earn their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award medals through conservation work at the reserve.
Tony says: “It’s been wonderful seeing people grow through their connection with the reserve. There’s an otter group that uses it; ecologists are conducting dormouse, amphibian and reptile surveys there; and conservationists are studying the bats of the reserve and beyond.”
WWT’s Andy Graham is on the epxert panel. He said: “Thanks to Tony this patch of land by a disused railway line has become a haven for wildlife, but the winning factor was that people use it too.
“Wetlands worldwide are linked with societies. With our technological lifestyles in the UK, that link is sometimes less obvious. As we go for a walk or fish or birdwatch, we don’t necessarily think about the jobs that wetland does quietly: storing floodwater, protecting our homes and businesses, keeping our rivers clean, providing us and our farmland with clean water.
“People like Tony make a big contribution to society by keeping our wetlands working well, which is why we want to reward them. Please take a couple of minutes to tell us about a wetland you love.”
The Marsh Award
The Marsh Award is awarded to the person who is judged to be mainly responsible for managing the wetland. The wetland should be:
• Accessible to as many people as possible
• Attractive and bring a wide range of benefits to the people who live nearby
• Home to a wide variety of wild plants and animals
• Managed by someone who makes a difference by either carrying out the work themselves or by organising and inspiring others.
The Marsh Award for Wetland Conservation comes with a prize of £1,000, and has been set up to celebrate local heroes who create and look after wetlands.
The Marsh Christian Trust runs a portfolio of more than 50 Awards, which seek to recognise unsung heroes who all aim to improve the world we live in.
