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 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, England, 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. 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. Other wild birds include Eurasian bittern, northern pintail,

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 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 London Wetlands of England Birdwatching sites in England London Wetland Centre 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