Editing WWT Slimbridge (section)

==History==
[[File:Peter scott in 1954 arp.jpg|thumb|left|Peter Scott at Slimbridge, 1954]]
The Wildlife and Wetland Trust at Slimbridge was set up by [[Peter Scott]] and opened on 10 November 1946, as 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.<ref name=history>{{cite web |url=http://www.wwt.org.uk/conservation/history-of-wwt/ |title=History of WWT |publisher=Wildfowl & Wetland Trust |access-date=20 August 2016 |archive-date=7 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160907025332/http://www.wwt.org.uk/conservation/history-of-wwt/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Cotswolds>{{cite web |url=http://www.cotswolds.info/places/slimbridge.shtml |title=WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre |publisher=Cotswolds.info |access-date=20 August 2016 |archive-date=5 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805184833/http://www.cotswolds.info/places/slimbridge.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>

This modest beginning developed in time into the formation of the [[Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust]], the only United Kingdom charity to promote the protection of wetland birds and their habitats, both in Britain and internationally.<ref>{{cite book|author=Bell, Catharine E.|title=Encyclopedia of the World's Zoos|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8DT4xOpIzS0C&pg=PA1331|year=2001|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-57958-174-9|page=1331|access-date=9 October 2016|archive-date=18 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818203903/https://books.google.com/books?id=8DT4xOpIzS0C&pg=PA1331|url-status=live}}</ref> Although starting out at Slimbridge, the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust now owns or manages nine other reserves in Britain,<ref name=reserves/> and advocates for wetlands and conservation issues world-wide. WWT Consulting is an offshoot of the Wildlife & Wetland Trust and is based at Slimbridge. It provides ecological surveys and assessments, and offers consultancy services in wetland habitat design, wetland management, biological waste-water treatment systems and the management of reserves and their visitor centres.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wwtconsulting.co.uk/ |title=WWT Consulting |publisher=Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (Consulting) Ltd |access-date=20 August 2016 |archive-date=31 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160831063020/http://www.wwtconsulting.co.uk/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The Queen in later years became Patron to the WWT, and Prince Charles became the President.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wwt.org.uk/news/all-news/2015/05/wwt-news/royal-support-for-drains-that-work-with-nature/ |title=Royal support for drains that "work with nature" |date=19 May 2015 |work=Latest from WWT |publisher=WWT |access-date=20 August 2016 |archive-date=21 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921215124/https://www.wwt.org.uk/news/all-news/2015/05/wwt-news/royal-support-for-drains-that-work-with-nature/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

A bust of founder Sir Peter Scott by Jacqueline Shackleton was completed in 1986 and is on display in the grounds.<ref name="clevr">{{cite web |url=http://www.clevr.com/pano/326 |title=Panoramic tour of Kathleen Scott Sculpture, WWT Slimbridge |publisher=CleVR |date=11 October 2006 |access-date=26 February 2013 |archive-date=20 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420095451/http://www.clevr.com/pano/326 |url-status=live }}</ref> His wife [[Philippa Scott|Philippa, Lady Scott]], sat for [[Jon Edgar]] as part of his Environmental Series of heads, and a bronze was unveiled in the visitor centre in December 2011.<ref>{{cite book |last=Edgar |first=Jon |title=Responses – Carvings and Claywork – Jon Edgar Sculpture 2003–2008 |year=2008 |publisher=Hesworth Press |isbn=978-0-9558675-0-7}}</ref> A sculpture by Peter Scott's mother, Kathleen Scott, entitled: ''[[Here Am I, Send Me]]'', originally commissioned for West Downs Preparatory School, is also on display in the grounds.<ref name="clevr" /><ref>{{cite journal |author=Stocker, Mark |year=2013 |title='Young male objects': the ideal sculpture of Kathleen Scott |journal=Sculpture Journal |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=119–127 |doi=10.3828/sj.2013.20d }}</ref>