Management and funding
WWT Welney Wetland Centre and reserve is owned by the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT). For further details about WWT, visit the 'About us' area of this website.
35,000 people visit WWT Welney each year with 80% of visits taking place during the winter swan season. The operation is funded through admissions, cattle grazing and as part of the WWT who are supported by members' annual subscriptions. WWT Welney also has a shop and tearoom which generates income along with admission charges, to support conservation work. WWT receives funding through the Countryside Stewardship Scheme for its management of the River Ouse Washes in eastern England. WWT Welney has a supporters group known as the Friends of Welney who fundraise to contribute towards projects."
Founded/opened
The nature reserve constitutes part of the Ouse Washes which form the largest example of internationally important washland in Britain, and is now the most important area of lowland wet grassland for birds in Britain.
Sir Peter Scott visited the Washes during his time as a student at Cambridge University. In 1968 WWT was donated 40 hectares (100 acres) of washland and in 1970 the nature reserve opened to the public. Josh Scott, a local Fenman who had spent his life on the Washes, was asked by Sir Peter to become the first warden. There was no visitor centre at WWT Welney at that time and visitors were required to collect a key from Joshs' house to gain access.
The nature reserve has grown from 40 hectares (100 acres) to 420 ha (1038 acres) in size whilst a small visitor centre comprising of portakabins opened in 1971. The visitor centre has also been extended. There are plans to build a new visitor centre and new access bridge to the reserve in the near future. The visitor facilities are in need of replacement to accommodate an increasing number of visitors."
Description
Visitor Centre
With its amazing new eco-friendly visitor centre featuring the Fenland Worlds exhibition, Welney is a flagship in sustainable living.
Visitors cross a bridge to the nature reserve and at first come to the main observatory. This heated hide with large picture windows, comfortable seating and carpets was designed to enable everyone to birdwatch. This hide has been extended twice and is now three times its original size due to increased visitation. The latest extension includes a large mural showing the species observed at different times of the year. Some visitors venture no further than this hide and as long as the reserve is not flooded there are five other large traditional hides to visit. A boardwalk leads visitors through the small reedbed area and there is also a two and a half mile summer walk that opens once the wading birds have finished breeding.
The vast number of wintering swans and other wildfowl provide unique opportunity for the general public to experience the magic and wonder of the Fens. In the winter the main lagoon gradually becomes illuminated around dusk when the migratory swans fly in from the surrounding fields. In winter on five nights a week and every day there are wild swan feeds with a live commentary provided by the warden. The winter spectacle draws a huge amount of interest and as a result individuals and groups who would never normally visit a nature reserve come to visit. Winter 2003 - 2004 was extremely busy due to BBC Radio 4 coverage following a group of satellite tracked birds from their Arctic breeding grounds, taking this phenomenon to a whole new audience.
Nature Reserve
The 420 ha (1038 acre) section (17%) of the Ouse Washes comprises largely of wet grassland with a small area of reedbed. Churchmans area is a willow and ditch copse whilst stretches of coppiced willows provide some screening along walkways. An area of willow scrub is in the process of being removed from the reserve to increase the area of lowland grassland habitat. The Ouse Washes is divided up by a network of ditches."
Key species/features
The site holds internationally important wintering populations of Bewick's Swan, Whooper Swan, Wigeon, Gadwall, Teal, Pintail and Shoveler. It is nationally important for a further six species of waterfowl. Black-tailed Godwit breed along with significant numbers of Lapwing, Snipe, Redshank, and Yellow Wagtail.
Most of the Washes are semi-natural and have been improved. There is a long tradition of summer cattle grazing, with hay cutting, which continues and provides swards for grazing wintering wildfowl, and breeding waders. 19 species of dragonfly are recorded on the Washes and plants include Meadow Rue and Greater Water Parsnip. The Musk Longhorn Beetle and Goat Moth are also present.
The Ouse Washes system (including the Welney reserve and all of the SSSI) is also a Special Protection Area (SPA) under the European Union (EU) Wild Birds Directive, and is also a Ramsar site.
The River Delph and counter drain form a candidate Special Conservation Area (cSAC) for their populations of Spined Loach (Cobitis taenia).
General
As part of the WWT family, WWT Welney adheres to the WWT curriculum, learn for life policy and education guidelines. For details, see the WLI site profiles, 'Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT)'.
Interpretation and exhibitry
The new centre interpretation brings alive the atmosphere of the unique landscape of the Fens in order to enable people to better 'tap into' the magic and wonder of this truly wild place. Focusing on the Ouse Washes characters past and present, young is used to tell the tale and bring alive its heritage for visitors.
A calendar of holiday events for families to enable children to better engage with the wildlife on site has been running here for some years. On a more tradistional birdwatching site with otherwise very limited activity for children visiting with their families, a suite of changing activities aims to enthuse children and give them a better understanding of species seen during their visit. Through this we aim to give greater scope for revisits. These self-guided educational activities are all designed and tested in house. Children are provided with a variety of media including pond dipping through which to learn more including making a memento to take home to remind them a little of what they experienced.
Formal (school and university) learning
School programmes are informed by the WWT Curriculum and are based on the slogan of 'WISE UP to wetlands' with the themes of water, ecology, biodiversity and sustainability (WEBS). They are tailored to the English National Curriculum and differentiated by age/ability. WWT Welney also provides tailored programmes for other syllabuses, tertiary students and special needs groups.
School visits are guided throughout by the Learning Manager/Warden. A teacher pack is available detailing programmes. Sessions are interactive, child-centred, conceptually and educationally robust but fun. Learning support materials are available through the Learn area of this site.
Informal (general public) learning
Swan feeds take place throughout the winter season. Printed trails for children are changed at the start of every school holiday. A full events programme is run each year encompassing a wide variety of events from guided walks, identification workshops, dawn and dusk events, and birdwatching excursions. At various levels these cover species across a range of groups from moths and plants to waders, wildfowl and dragonflies and are proving extremely popular. The guidebook is currently being updated. Appropriate publications are sold in the shop. Staff are used to lead school programmes, volunteers staff the hide at weekends and holidays when the reserve is generally at its busiest, helping visitors with birdwatching along with wardens (and one volunteer) who undertake the swan feeds and commentaries.
There is a Friends of Welney Group that generates funds to support projects through many activities such as a programme of slide shows. The Friends also organise volunteers to help in the tearoom and answering the telephone at peak periods and recruiting new members both to WWT and the Friends of Welney. A weekend practical volunteer team has just been re-established. Other volunteers assist every week with a variety of tasks including carpentry and making props.
Professional
WWT Welney is visited regularly by representatives of overseas environmental organisations looking for ideas and inspiration to help them develop wetland and other nature reserves. Birdlife International regularly use WWT Welney to show that small (in terms of centre buildings) can still be highly effective. National and international visitors come too to see the impressive main observatory (inspiring similar designs further afield) and unique natural winter spectacle. With the construction of a new visitor centre we expect to see more activity in this area.
Staffing
The Centre Operations Manager is ultimately responsible for the running of the centre and oversees the work of seven fulltime and seven parttime staff. The Centre Operations Director based at WWT Headquarters, Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, directs the Centre Operations Manager.
Welney has a fulltime Learning Manager/Warden to deal with educational visits and family holiday activities. The wardening team share their knowledge of the reserve with visitors through undertaking feeds with live commentary and a varied programme of events including guided walks and identification workshops across a range of species from waders to moths, dragonflies to plants, bats to wildfowl as well as working with visitors in the main observatory providing commentaries and further information relating to the birds.