WWT London Wetland Centre is a

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

reserve managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in the

Barnes Barnes may refer to: People * Barnes (name), a family name and a given name (includes lists of people with that name) Places United Kingdom *Barnes, London, England **Barnes railway station ** Barnes Bridge railway station ** Barnes Railway Bri ...

area of the

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in southwest London forms part of Outer London and is the only London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London ...

, southwest

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, by Barn Elms. The site is formed of four disused Victorian reservoirs tucked into a loop in the Thames. The centre first opened in 2000, and in 2002 an area of 29.9 hectares was designated a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

as the ''Barn Elms Wetland Centre''.Natural England, Barn Elms Wetland Centre Citation
/ref> The centre occupies more than 100 acres (40 hectares) of land which was formerly occupied by several small reservoirs. These were converted into a wide range of wetland features and habitats before the centre opened in May 2000. It was the first urban project of its kind in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Many wild birds which have now made their home in the centre cannot be found anywhere else in London, and there are nationally significant numbers of

gadwall The gadwall (''Mareca strepera'') is a common and widespread dabbling duck in the family Anatidae. Taxonomy The gadwall was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. DNA studies have shown that ...

and

northern shoveler The northern shoveler (; ''Spatula clypeata''), known simply in Britain as the shoveler, is a common and widespread duck. It breeds in northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and across most of North America, wintering in southern Euro ...

. Other wild birds include Eurasian bittern,

northern pintail The pintail or northern pintail (''Anas acuta'') is a duck species with wide geographic distribution that breeds in the northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and North America. It is migratory and winters south of its breeding ra ...

northern lapwing The northern lapwing (''Vanellus vanellus''), also known as the peewit or pewit, tuit or tew-it, green plover, or (in Ireland and Britain) pyewipe or just lapwing, is a bird in the lapwing subfamily. It is common through temperate Eurosiberia. ...

, water rail, ring-necked parakeet,

Eurasian sparrowhawk The Eurasian sparrowhawk (''Accipiter nisus''), also known as the northern sparrowhawk or simply the sparrowhawk, is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Adult male Eurasian sparrowhawks have bluish grey upperparts and orange-barred ...

sand martin The sand martin (''Riparia riparia''), also known as the bank swallow (in the Americas), collared sand martin, or common sand martin, is a migratory passerine bird in the swallow family. It has a wide range in summer, embracing practically the w ...

, common kingfisher, little grebe and great crested grebe. The centre also holds a collection of captive wildfowl. It is host to regular lectures and events concerned with preserving Britain's wetland animals and was featured on the BBC television programme

Seven Natural Wonders ''Seven Natural Wonders'' is a television series that was broadcast on BBC Two from 3 May to 20 June 2005. The programme takes an area of England each week and, from votes by the people living in that area, shows the 'seven natural wonders' of t ...

in 2005 as one of the wonders of the London area, with a focus on the region's

parakeets A parakeet is any one of many small to medium-sized species of parrot, in multiple genera, that generally has long tail feathers. Etymology and naming The name ''parakeet'' is derived from the French wor''perroquet'' which is reflected in ...

, in an episode presented by Bill Oddie. The site contains a large visitors' building which is occasionally used as a wedding venue. In 2012 London Wetland Centre was voted Britain's Favourite Nature Reserve in the BBC Countryfile Magazine Awards. The site received 190,206 visitors during 2019.

Image gallery

File:Wetland Centre Lagoon.jpg, Sheltered Lagoon at the London Wetland Centre File:Black-necked swan 745r.jpg, Black-necked swan at the Centre Image:Wwt_london.600px.jpg, Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust London Wetland Centre File:London wetland peacock tower 777.JPG, London Wetland Centre Peacock Tower File:Swan 1000802.JPG, Coscoroba swan at the London Wetland Centre File:Heron in London Wetland Centre.jpg,

Demoiselle Crane The demoiselle crane (''Grus virgo'') is a species of crane found in central Eurosiberia, ranging from the Black Sea to Mongolia and North Eastern China. There is also a small breeding population in Turkey. These cranes are migratory birds. Bir ...

s in WWT London Wetland Centre File:Lego swan sculpture at London Wetland Centre.png,

Lego Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlocking ...

swan sculpture on display in 2015

References

External links

Official website

WWT London Wetland Centre on Facebook

WWT London Wetland Centre on Twitter
* {{SSSIs Greater London 2000 establishments in England

Wetlands of England Birdwatching sites in England

London Wetland Centre WWT London Wetland Centre is a wetland reserve managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in the Barnes area of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest London, England, by Barn Elms. The site is formed of four disused Victorian rese ...

Nature centres in England Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Sites of Special Scientific Interest in London Bodies of water of London Barnes, London

Image gallery

See also

References

External links