East Midlands Mayor investing £200,000 to ‘future proof’ Nottinghamshire nature reserve

Attenborough Nature Reserve celebrated its 60th anniversary this year, having originally been opened by Sir David Attenborough in 1966.

The site is best known for its birds, with more than 250 species recorded, and is cited as one of the best spots in the UK to see kingfishers.

It’s popular nature centre opened 21 years ago, initially built for around 70,000 visitors each year – in its first year, around 160,000 people visited.

Now, the reserve boasts around 500,000 visitors yearly, and some funding is on its way to help the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust “future proof” the nature haven.

Ms Ward visited the reserve on September 11 to mark her £200,000 investment into the site to help ‘modernise’ the nature centre and improve accessibility.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Ms Ward said the money will help the wildlife trust ‘plan for the future’.

The pot of cash can be used by the trust to commission various studies that will help it build an investment case for the site going forward.

Ms Ward said: “You can see how popular the place is, how beautiful it is.

"We want this not just to reflect the past, but to reflect how we preserve it for the future and enhance it.

“When I was elected, I promised I would put some support into it and I established a nature and biodiversity task force.

"The Wildlife Trust need to look at all possibilities, whether it’s expanding the facilities they have here, making them more flexible so that perhaps there’s more opportunity for people to enjoy it, the community space.”

The mayor also pushed for young people who do not have access to the site, or understand the benefits of it for enjoyment and education, to have more access, potentially through volunteering, apprenticeships and skill opportunities.

Paul Wilkinson, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust chief executive, called the reserve the ‘jewel in the crown of the East Midlands’.

Speaking on the funding, Mr Wilkinson said: “The buildings are starting to get a little bit tired, so we want to look at how we rejuvenate and regenerate the building.

“We want it to really sing as an amazing resource and asset that the region can be proud of.

“This site is incredibly popular, so we want to future-proof that design, we want to make sure that what we’re designing now can last for at least another 20 to 30 years to cope with the increase in footfall.

“There are developments on the doorstep of this nature reserve, more housing, more infrastructure, so there will be more people potentially coming.”

Mr Wilkinson hopes the studies the trust will commission to assess the site will make it ‘so attractive’ to external funders that the ‘money pours in’.

He added: “What I want is that everyone, when they get here, they feel welcome, they feel it’s accessible, they know they’re going to see and experience nature, either quietly or they can come with groups of friends and family and they just feel this is a place for them.”