House of “Patron Saint of Conservation” To Open To Public
February 17, 2016
For Sir Peter Scott, the only child of Antarctic explorer, Robert F. Scott, nothing was more important than conserving the world around him. From his home in Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, England, he dedicated his life to conservation. Now, with an investment of 4.4 million pounds (about $6.4 million) from the Heritage Lottery Fund towards a 6 million pounds (about $8.7 million) Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust project, the house of Sir Peter Scott will soon be open to the public. It was at this house—seen as the birthplace of the modern conservation movement— that Sir Peter had a great realization: our lives are so connected with our natural world that we must learn to love it and look after it.
The area around Sir Peter Scott’s home has been a part of the Slimbridge Wetland Centre—headed by the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust—for quite some time. Now, however, visitors will be able to enter the house and learn Sir Peter’s fascinating story. In 1953, his home was the site of the British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) first-ever natural history program. His house is also a key part of the story of modern conservation and stands as a model for conservation efforts worldwide. It was mainly here that Sir Peter Scott devised the global system for categorizing wildlife that the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) still uses today. This system designates species as threatened, endangered, or extinct. It was also here that Sir Peter Scott helped found the Wildfowl & Wetland Trust and the WWF (once known as the World Wildlife Fund). Sir Peter even designed the WWF’s famous panda logo.
The new heritage tour at Slimbridge will include Sir Peter Scott’s home and will continue onto the grounds, which are home to a large collection of water birds. Among the grounds’ citizens is the nene, or Hawaiian goose, a species that Scott helped save from extinction. The grounds will include an aviary and a theater overlooking the nature reserves, as well as access to the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust’s world-renowned conservation breeding duckery.