Arundel wetlands Centre – Communicating the Message of Nature

Written by Keir Hartley

“The most effective way to save the threatened and decimated natural world is to cause people to fall in love with it again-with its beauty and its reality” This was the vision of Sir Peter Scott, the tireless broadcaster and naturalist who established the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. We visited the WWT’s Arundel Wetland Centre in the year of its 50th anniversary, the WWT’s 80th, just before World Wetlands Day on 2 February, to investigate his legacy.  

We started our morning by meeting Marketing and Communications Manager Pat Warren and Reserve manager Suzi Lanaway in the impressive Visitors Centre. It’s a bright open space with huge picture windows looking out over a large lake bustling with all kinds of water birds such as geese, ducks and teals. As we sipped our coffee and talked, we couldn’t fail to notice the occasional blue flash of a kingfisher darting to the water a few feet from where we sat. 

There is no doubt that Scott’s vision is alive here today. “Wetlands have superpowers” explained Pat, “they store carbon, help prevent flooding, and are a habitat for an enormous range of species.” Many of these are rare or migrating birds whose chances of life would be slim indeed without the Arundel Wetlands Centre. Among their proud success stories are marsh harriers snipe, teal and sand martins, of which more later. 

Preserving species is vital: but they achieve more in partnership than alone. “I suppose every bit of land managed with wildlife in mind is important” says Suzi. To this end, the Arundel Centre works in every way it can with local farmers, land managers and residents to ensure that the sanctuary of the trust fits into a wider network of viable habitats, wildlife corridors-and people who understand its vision. Above all, this must include the public. If you want learning to be fun, this is the place to come. Spring and summer tend to be family-leaning, where visitors can enjoy the walks, the hides and the many activities such as pond dipping and safari boat rides as well as slightly messier adventures such this half term’s Mudfest. There’s a regular schools visit programme – but to ensure maximum connection, Arundel is part of the WWT’s immersive Generation Wild programme, which facilitates free visits for schools from deprived areas, with family follow ups, Autumn and winter see more adults. Groups like birdwatchers and  photographers, some with incredibly impressive-looking cameras, have formed their own social and online networks around the centre. By engaging with them, Pat is extending her messaging into the new world of social media, thereby winning new allies. 

Briefings over, Pat led us on our extensive tour. At 65 acres, Arundel is one of the smaller wetland centres but it hosts an impressive array of marshes, reed beds, lakes and islands, many alive with bird life even in grey January. There is a network of sturdy walkways, which allow an efficient and mud-free close approach to nature. All are signposted and equipped with informative storyboards. One of the walkways led us to the sand martin hide. A chunky reddish structure built to resemble a sandy riverbank which the birds tunnel into, the natural nesting spot for sand martin colonies in the UK. And what a success it has been! Starting with three nests in 2019, it has grown with almost mathematical progression: seven in 2020, 15 in 2021, 24 in 2022, 83 in 2024 and 150 last year. No wonder Pat and Suzi were so proud of it. 

As part of WWT, the Arundel Centre is a charity. So, it depends on the work of a network of volunteers to aid the regular staff. There is the annual labour of clearing scrub and reeds, or the lakes would eventually revert to woodland. Sites of Special Scientific interest such as the reed warblers’ habitats must be assiduously maintained and the warming climate may threaten many of the amphibians and aquatic invertebrates with extinction – and end the birds’ supply of food. 

And we could not close our visit without a mention of the spectacularly impressive Dalmatian Pelicans. A group is maintained as part of the centre’s links to international conservation efforts, even though they became extinct in England many centuries ago. Their enormous bills and colossal wingspans gave them the faint air of those pterodactyls you used to see in old dinosaur books. Who knows, maybe one day they will take their place alongside beavers and kites that are currently making their way back to their rightful homes. 

Conservation must communicate to succeed. If the ghost of Sir Peter Scott returned today, he would conclude that the Arundel Wetland Centre was a true custodian of his belief. 

www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/arundel