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Impact Report 2025

WWT's Impact Report 2025 reports well over 3,000 hectares of wetlands created or restored across the UK, 82,807 members, and a landmark campaign win: after 25 years of WWT-led campaigning with 15,000 supporters speaking up, the ban on lead ammunition in Great Britain became law in April 2026.

Report snapshot
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About

The UK wetlands charity restoring and protecting wetlands and their wildlife through conservation projects, reserves, education and campaigns

Key Metrics

Wetlands created or restored 3,000+ hectares of wetlands created or restored across the UK in 2025, 318 hectares directly through WWT projects
Members 82,807 members supporting WWT long-term; over 6,000 people visited a single temporary wetland installation
Supporters speaking up 15,000 supporters spoke up for a lead ammunition ban, ending lead poisoning responsible for 100,000 waterbird deaths every year

Key Outcomes

  • After 25 years of WWT-led campaigning, the ban on lead ammunition in Great Britain became law in April 2026, protecting Bewick swans and other migrating birds
  • Threatened species protected and restored, from white-clawed crayfish to the Madagascar pochard, through conservation breeding and community-led projects
  • Thousands of people connected with wetlands for the first time, building support for nature recovery and the ambition of 100k hectares by 2050

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