An urban wetland for wildlife and people through private-public partnership
Snapshot Solution
WWT London - Kevin Peberdy
London Wetland Centre is a re-creation of a historic wetland through an unusual partnership between the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) NGO, a water utility company, and a housing developer. Under this arrangement, around 3 hectares of the site was developed for housing, with proceeds used to create over 40 ha of natural wetlands. The site is managed by WWT, under a 125 year lease, as an important urban site for both wildlife and for people engagement
Last update: 02 Oct 2020
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Context
Challenges addressed
Location
WWT London Wetland Centre, London, United Kingdom
West and South Europe
Impacts
- Development of a site of national wildlife conservation value and engaging over 200,000 annual visitors with wildlife in the heart of a capital city, including over 40,000 school children. It is also a prime location for business events for London corporates and politicians, enabling WWT to engagement positively with these important sectors.
- The utility realised the value of the asset by its deal with the housing developer, and also benefits from the ‘green’ credentials through its association with the project..
- This ‘enabling development’ which unlocked prime building land by enabling development of a large area of natural wetland habitat and associated infrastructure, was a pioneering concept and also showed that housing connected to an urban wildlife reserve could be sold at a premium
