developing a wetland centre, English - Wetland Link International

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WLI is grateful for the support of the UK Government through its Department of Food,Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) for funding the development of this manual. Weare also grateful to HSBC Bank for supporting the ongoing development of WLI.This manual is a beginning. Inevitably, our examples are taken largely from theWildfowl & Wetlands Trust. Eventually we hope that the manual will expand to includebest practice from a wider range of wetland centres worldwide. Also, that it will providesupport material for distance-learning and site-based training in this area.4
Chapter 2 – The world of wetland centresA wetland centre or wetland education centre or wetland learning centre is defined byWetland Link International (WLI – the global network of wetland centres) as ‘anyplace there is interaction between people and wildlife and CEPA activity occurs insupport of wetland conservation’ (see www.wli.org.uk).Traditionally, wetland centres have tended to comprise a wetland site with associatedinterpretative signage, trails, (possibly grander) exhibitry, and a dedicated visitorcentre building that tells stories about wetlands (including the specific wetland inquestion), their biodiversity and conservation.But the world of wetland centres is growing fast – indeed in some ways it isoutgrowing the classic WLI definition. Wetland centres may focus on wildlife issues,but they may equally concentrate on issues of wetland wise-use as espoused by theRamsar Convention. Centres often develop a narrative that includes the importanceof the wetland(s) to the surrounding populace – cultural relationships, sustainablelivelihoods, as means of reducing poverty and so on. Some wetland centres mayconcentrate on archaeological heritage.Sometimes a wetland centre may not even be situated in an actual wetland. Who’s tosay that exhibits like the one detailing the Hudson River in New York’s Aquarium orthe Swamp exhibit in Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo are not a type of wetland centre? Atthe other end of the spectrum, is a community project based around, say, issues ofsustainable fisheries a wetland centre? It is certainly a place where people andwetlands interact and CEPA takes place for wetland wise use and conservation.Wetland centres may be a mixture of nature reserve, wilderness area, botanicalgarden, captive animal collection, museum, science centre and cultural heritage site,or any combination thereof. They range from centres attached to particular sites tobuildings that tell stories about entire urban water catchments, river basins, orappropriate whole landscape/ecosystem approaches to wetland conservation.Wetland centres can be managed by governments, non-government organisations,private individuals and companies, or combinations and partnerships thereof. Theymay be small local affairs or multi-million pound projects. A quick trawl around theglobal directory of wetland centres on WLI World (www.wli.org.uk) will reveal someof this diversity and give contact details for those who want to find out more aboutspecific wetland centres.5
Page 1 and 2: DEVELOPING AWETLANDCENTRE1: Public
Page 3: Chapter 1 - Introduction“Can you
Page 7 and 8: Chapter 3 - The contextPeter Scott,
Page 9 and 10: • Using a diversity of approaches
Page 11 and 12: Wetland Link International (WLI)WLI
Page 13 and 14: through the conservation of the par
Page 15 and 16: At the end of the process, the Mast
Page 17 and 18: Learning Policies - These are likel
Page 19 and 20: Please note that the above sequence
Page 21 and 22: Wetland knowledgeWater and wetlands
Page 23 and 24: Sustainability• Concept and defin
Page 25 and 26: CommunicationCommunication• Commu
Page 27 and 28: Chapter 7 - And to whom?Who will vi
Page 29 and 30: • Financial - can the visitor aff
Page 31 and 32: • Basic physiological needs - are
Page 33 and 34: At site level• Ecological integra
Page 35 and 36: • Information - ensuring a hierar
Page 37 and 38: Modularity - The wetland centre fac
Page 39 and 40: Chapter 9 - HardwareChapters 9 and
Page 41 and 42: • Touch screens are one example o
Page 43 and 44: Chapter 10 - SoftwareBy ‘software
Page 45 and 46: Chapter 11 - OperationsOperating or
Page 47 and 48: Sometimes there will be tensions in
Page 49 and 50: Chapter 13 Case studiesAs an online
Page 51 and 52: SUDS - Sustainable Urban Drainage S
Page 53 and 54: Chapter 16 AcknowledgmentsProduced
Page 55:
This manual was produced withthe he
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developing a wetland centre, English - Wetland Link International

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