The story
Founded by Peter Scott in 1946.1
The trust was founded in 1946 by the ornithologist and artist Sir Peter Scott as the Severn Wildfowl Trust.
The first site at Slimbridge was a centre for research and conservation. In a move unusual at the time, he opened the site to the public so that everyone could enjoy access to nature.
This organisation later developed into the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, the only United Kingdom charity dedicated solely to promoting the protection of wetland birds and their habitats. Although starting out at Slimbridge, the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust now owns or manages nine other reserves in Britain, and advocates for wetlands and conservation issues world-wide. WWT Consulting was an offshoot of the Wildlife & Wetland Trust and was based at Slimbridge. It provided ecological surveys and assessments, and offered consultancy services in wetland habitat design, wetland management, biological waste-water treatment systems and the management of reserves and their visitor centres. The Queen in later years became patron to the trust, and Prince Charles became the president.
The trust was instrumental in saving the nēnē (Hawaiian goose) from the brink of extinction in the 1950s.
From Wikipedia’s article on Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5