Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust

Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) is the UK's leading wetland conservation charity. Its vision is a world where healthy wetland nature thrives and enriches lives.

The five pillars of the charity's strategy are to:

• Create, restore and manage larger, more connected and more healthy wetlands in the UK.
• Move and inspire people engaging with wetlands to support conservation.
• Connect people with wetlands where they live and work in the UK.
• Offer and promote solutions to conserve the world's most threatened wetland hotspots, and improve the livelihoods of their people.
• Strengthen wetland conservation on priority global flyways.

Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust delivers conservation programmes to protect threatened wetlands and wetland species such as the beautiful Bewick's Swan. The charity inspires everyone to value the amazing things healthy wetlands achieve for people and nature. It saves wetland species from the threat of extinction, and re-introduces species to flourish again in places where they were previously lost, such as cranes in south west England. The charity's work to save wildlife includes monitoring, researching threats, and undertaking projects that counter these threats. 

In the UK, WWT manages more than 3,500 hectares of valuable wetlands across ten centres and reserves. At seven of these, collections of water birds and other wetland species are looked after. As refuges for resident and migratory wildlife, large swathes of the charity's reserves are of international conservation importance and enjoy protective designations.

Throughout the charity's history, it has been a pioneer in conservation, engagement, and learning - bringing people closer to nature by enabling them to experience wildlife spectacles. A million visitors per year are welcomed to WWT centres, of which nearly a third are children. The charity broadens its reach by working with communities outside of its centres to help local people realise the tremendous health, wellbeing, social and economic benefits of their wetlands for themselves. 

WWT Vice President Sir David Attenborough said, "I have no doubt at all that connection with the natural world is crucial for our popular development. WWT's Wetland Centres are fantastic. They bring people and wildlife closer together than anywhere else that I can think of".

Martin Spray, Chief Executive of WWT, said, "The generous support from players of People's Postcode Lottery ensures that WWT will continue to bring new wildlife experiences to the public. Millions of people in the UK have their first close-up encounter with wildlife at one of our centres. This support will help us  to offer this opportunity to more visitors as well as protect some of the UK's most iconic wildlife".

For more information, visit their website http://www.wwt.org.uk/. To help support their work, sign up to play People's Postcode Lottery.