Editing Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (section)

== History ==
The trust was founded in 1946 by the [[ornithology|ornithologist]] and artist Sir [[Peter Scott]] as the '''Severn Wildfowl Trust'''.

The first site at [[WWT Slimbridge|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.<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=dead }}</ref><ref name=Cotswolds>{{cite web |url=http://www.cotswolds.info/places/slimbridge.shtml |title=WWW 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 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. <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>{{cite web |url=http://www.wwt.org.uk/conservation/our-nature-reserves/ |title=Our nature reserves: Slimbridge |publisher=WWT |access-date=21 August 2016 |archive-date=21 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821025425/http://www.wwt.org.uk/conservation/our-nature-reserves/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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.<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 trust, 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>

The trust was instrumental in saving the [[Nene (bird)|nēnē (Hawaiian goose)]] from the brink of extinction in the 1950s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Black |first=Jeffrey M. |last2=Duvall |first2=Fern |last3=Hoshide |first3=Howard |last4=Medeiros |first4=John |last5=Hodges |first5=Cathleen Natividad |last6=Santos |first6=Nelson |last7=Telfer |first7=Tom |year=1991 |title=The current status of the Hawaiian Goose Branta sandvicensis and its recovery programme |url=http://wildfowl.wwt.org.uk/index.php/wildfowl/article/view/875 |journal=Wildfowl |volume=42 |issue=42 |pages=149–154 |access-date=10 July 2017 |archive-date=16 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180416012559/https://wildfowl.wwt.org.uk/index.php/wildfowl/article/view/875 |url-status=live }}</ref>