News
Winter wildlife activities at WWT Wetland Centres
At WWT Wetland Centres this winter, discover amazing wildlife spectacles including swirling starling murmurations, the arrival of thousands of wild Bewick’s and whooper swans from Russia and Iceland and huge flocks of rare geese flying in to their over-
21 December 2018
Environment Bill brings mixed Christmas offerings
The Government has published its Environment Bill – just in time for Christmas! Over recent months WWT has been working to ensure vital environmental protections are stronger, not weaker, after we leave the EU. The importance of this was reflected in
21 December 2018
Thank you to our amazing Steart volunteers!
On Tuesday we had our Christmas outing to thank our dedicated team of volunteers for all their time and hard work. Calculations show that over the past year our 52 volunteers have clocked up a remarkable 6984 hours between them! That is the equivalent of
18 December 2018
WWT takes Green Bill campaign to Westminster
WWT supporters have taken our Get Behind The Green Bill campaign to Westminster to push for better legal protection for air, water and wildlife after Brexit. The Government’s draft Environment Bill – or Green Bill – is expected to be part-publish
17 December 2018
Survey reveals record number of UK's tallest bird
2018 has been the most successful year for Britain’s tallest bird – the Eurasian crane – since the 17th Century, according to figures released today. A record 54 pairs produced 25 chicks, bringing the national total population up to around 180 bi
14 December 2018
WWT plays key role in Asia
WWT’s Chief Executive has been re-appointed to a group managing conservation efforts along the most threatened bird migration route on the planet. Martin Spray CBE will be one of only two NGO representatives on the Management Committee for the East A
12 December 2018
Welsh and English protection for declining geese
WWT welcomes decisions this week by the UK and Welsh governments to end the hunting of Greenland white-fronted geese. Annual counts show the population of Greenland white-fronted geese wintering in Britain and Ireland dropped by a third in the last dec
3 December 2018
Wintering bird arrival
The last month has seen the arrival at Steart of a few of our favourite wintering birds. Firstly, short-eared owls have arrived back and are displaying excellently after only one sighting last winter. A hen harrier has been sighted regularly, roosting s
27 November 2018
A win for barnacle geese
Yesterday WWT called out a proposal being made to the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention to downgrade protection for barnacle geese in the UK and Europe, which would make it widely legal to kill them. We featured this photograph of a suitabl
27 November 2018
It could become legal to kill wild barnacle geese in the UK in the future
It could become legal to kill wild barnacle geese in the UK in the future, if a proposal by Norway to the EU is adopted. The reason is that the species has increased through conservation efforts to stop it sliding towards extinction. UK numbers of Sval
26 November 2018
Annual 'swanfall' begins as Slimbridge welcomes over 50 migratory Bewick's swans
The annual ‘swanfall’ at WWT Slimbridge has kicked off with a flurry of Bewick’s swans checking in for the winter. A total of 51 birds completed the final leg of their migration during the recent crisp nights. They join Indri, the first of the Be
20 November 2018
What Brexit means for nature
Heard much about the environment in the Brexit debate? We haven’t either. However the next few weeks turn out with the current political turmoil, Brexit is likely to have serious positive and negative impacts on our wildlife and their habitats. Ai
20 November 2018
Latest WWT science journal shines light on lives of wetland birds
New details of the lives of wetland birds are revealed for the first time in the latest issue of Wildfowl, published by WWT. The charity’s scientific journal, published annually and first printed 70 years ago, is a way of sharing new research that co
20 November 2018
Wetlands key to biodiversity
Wetland loss is driving extinctions of animal and plant species, and contributing to the world’s imminent failure to reach its 2020 global biodiversity targets: But this could be reversed by creating new wetlands. That’s the message from WWT and ot
19 November 2018
Severn Estuary Partnership Forum 2018
We had the pleasure of being invited to exhibit a stand at the Severn Estuary Partnership (SEP) forum in Newport last week. It was a great opportunity to talk to people working in and around the estuary about Steart Marshes and the value of working wetlan
12 November 2018