2025 Free

Impact Report 2024–2025

WWT's Impact Report 2024-2025 sets out the charity's work protecting and restoring wetland habitats across its network of ten UK visitor centres, combining species reintroduction and recovery programmes with public engagement and wetland science, supported by a workforce of around 420 staff and 881 volunteers.

Report snapshot
73 Views

About

Wetland habitat creation and restoration, species reintroduction and recovery programmes, visitor centre engagement and education, wetland science and monitoring, international wetland conservation partnerships

Key Metrics

Key Metric 1 Network of 10 wetland visitor centres managed across the UK
Key Metric 2 881 volunteers supporting WWT's conservation and engagement work
Key Metric 3 420 staff delivering wetland conservation, species reintroduction and visitor engagement programmes

Key Outcomes

  • Continued management and restoration of wetland habitat across WWT's network of reserves, supporting wintering and breeding waterbirds
  • Ongoing species recovery work for threatened wetland birds through WWT-led breeding and reintroduction programmes
  • Public engagement and education delivered through WWT's visitor centres, connecting communities with wetland wildlife

Geography

UK-Wide

Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
5,999 active volunteers contributed 776,242 hours in 2025/26
Key Metric 2
137 winter maintenance projects across 45 canals; 109 lock gates replaced
Key Metric 3
101,640 children participated in Explorers/STEM outdoor learning, including 67,896 water-safety participants
Over 80% of the network kept fully open despite drought.
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
The Eco-Schools programme reached over 1.4 million pupils, with 2,162 schools awarded the Eco-Schools Green Flag in 2024/25
Key Metric 2
326,000 volunteers pledged to the Great British Spring Clean, picking up 425,626 bags of rubbish, supported by 288 local authorities and parish councils
Key Metric 3
2,227 Green Flag Awards given to parks and green spaces in the UK; 151 beaches given a Blue Flag and/or Seaside Award
98.3% of educators felt the Eco-Schools programme significantly supports young people's development of 'green skills'
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
First known breeding success of spoonbills in the Norfolk Broads in around 400 years, recorded at Hickling Broads and Marshes
Key Metric 2
Over 60 nature reserves managed across Norfolk, with land owned or managed for wildlife exceeding 5,000 hectares
Key Metric 3
1,500 volunteers helped protect wildlife across the county during the year
New urban nature reserve co-designed with the local community, expanding accessible green space in Norfolk
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
61,819 native oysters deployed across UK restoration projects in 2024/25
Key Metric 2
15,064 people participated in the Beachwatch beach clean programme, submitting 1,256 litter surveys — the highest in the programme's 31-year history
Key Metric 3
17,613 young people engaged through in-person or online youth programme sessions
£11.5 billion Ofwat investment package secured for storm overflow cuts in England and Wales following sustained MCS advocacy