 
It was of course, Sir Peter Scott who set up the Wetlands Trust, the first centre being at his home in Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, England. He went on to pioneer seven more centers across the British Isles, demonstrating an inspirational ability to transform visions into reality by bringing together key players and ideas. Sadly Sir Peter did not live to see his 9th dream materialise, but his memory is entwined in the London Wetland project.
Opening its doors 11 years after Sir Peter Scott’s death, on the 26th May 2000, the London Wetland’s Center has become a leading example of how successful urban conservation can be. Consisting of 42 hectares of land in the Barnes suburb that were acquired from four disused Thames Water reservoirs, the centre is now thriving with over 150 species of birds, 8 species of bat and 8 reptile, and a thriving 350 strong colony of the UK’s most endangered mammal, the Water Vole.
For Saveit4aSong, being based just over the river Thames in neighbouring Hammersmith, the center provides a peaceful retreat when we need to get away from the mayhem. However, on this occasion the treat was enhanced by the presence of the great man, Sir David Attenborough. We had managed to get tickets to listen to the man who inspired us to write the song ‘Take it All Away’ and therefore set in motion the development of Saveit4aSong. Having never met Sir David Attenborough, we were obviously excited, as were many others. Spanning many generations, this is a man who has brought the natural world into our living rooms in a unique way. As one woman stated during the audience questions, “ I want to thank you for making me love the natural world the way I do, and continue to through my children. You have been an inspiration to us all”.
Yet as you’d expect, although a worldwide personality, celebrity and revered authoritative figure, Sir David Attenborough, is at the same time incredibly endearing, approachable and funny. In reaction to the lady’s comment, he was quite taken aback. He, like his friend and mentor Sir Peter Scott, seems to come from a generation that eschews gloating in their own self importance; rather their focus is outward, channeling all their energy into their passion – in this case the natural world and its conservation.
For Gillian and I, it was an incredibly interesting and warming speech. We hold Sir David in high esteem, yet here he was talking in deeply admiring terms of someone else – namely, Sir Peter Scott.
 
Still, it is no surprise that Sir David Attenborough talks about Sir Peter Scott in the way he does. Scott’s legacy is huge and one that we have much to be thankful for. Not only was he the founder of WWT, but he was also founder chair of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). He even designed their logo. He developed the IUCN Red Data Books, something we now call the Red List. (The Red List brings together data from across the conservation world, and is the main tool in defining the status of endangered species. It plays a key role in determining what areas and animals need the greatest attention and helps steer the decisions of our governments.) His visit to the Antarctic in 1966 made him determined that it should remain a wilderness, and after tireless lobbying his vision was implanted into history when in 1991 the Madrid Protocol was signed, designating the continent as a 'natural reserve land for science and peace' and protecting it for the following 50 years.
These are the big named trophies, but as Sir David pointed out in his speech, it was Scott’s ability to bring together the key players, make them listen, and make the changes necessary that was so important. He founded many local and regional bodies, and like Sir David was a key figure in the world of nature programs. His show, Look, which he filmed in his lounge looking out over the wetlands of Slimbridge, ran for 26 years.
Scott, like his father, the legendary Antarctic explorer, Robert Falcon Scott, was a winner, a man who strove to be the best he could. It is an amazing thought that for someone who trained as an artist, (like his mother Kathleen Scott), Sir Peter could end up not only an Olympic British Sailing medallist, champion skater and glider, but also, broadcaster, author, war hero, and in the words of Sir David, the “patron saint” of the conservation world. For his father who wrote in his dying letter, "make the boy interested in natural history if you can. It is better than games..." what more could he have asked.
It was in 1973 that Scott became the first person to be knighted for services to conservation, and the techniques and knowledge he created continues to forge the paths we now take.
Speaking for just over an hour, Sir David Attenborough not only highlighted the great work of Scott but also gave us a glimpse of their experiences together, some of which were very funny. A couple of statements really stuck out for me.
ROUSING THE WORLD
“If you had to pick one person who was responsible for rousing the world to the plight of nature, and one person who was responsible for setting up the first really large international charity, the World Wildlife Fund, it was Peter. Of course there were others too, very important others. But Peter marshaled them. Peter gave them the drive, and so established the world wildlife fund”. Sir David Attenborough
DOODLINGS
“In meetings when I was a very junior boy, and I always used to try and sit next to Peter if I possibly could, because I knew, that when the meeting got to those boring bits,( you know, all about finances and so on), Peter wouldn’t be quite so interested and would start to doodle. When the meeting came to an end I used to lean over and try to snitch his drawings”. Sir David Attenborough
THE MADAGASCAN POCHARD
“In those days making natural history programs was absolutely thrilling, because it was very, very easy to film things for the first time. You could be a great pioneer at that time, 1960. For example, I would look at a map a say where shall we go next year, and I saw this island off the east coast of Africa, a place called Madagascar. I wonder what’s there? And when we started looking we found that Madagascar was full of the most fabulous creatures, none of which, not one had been filmed in the wild. There were huge areas with giant Lemas, and all kinds of dramatic reptiles, a wonderful place.”
“At that time I saw Peter at a meeting and Peter said, ‘Where are you going next?’ I replied, Madagascar. Peter responded: “ MADAGASCAR! - The Madagascan Pochard is the one duck that I have never had. It’s rare and they’re seldom seen in Europe. If you could get me a Madagascan Pochard it would be wonderful.” Well, I looked Peter in the eyes and said, “Peter, trust me, if I see a Pot Yar, I will bring it back to you”. So off we went to Madagascar and it was pretty good. We got some good stuff and ended up with good ratings, large audiences.”
“While the series was in the middle of its run I had to go to the natural history museum and had a surprise encounter with Peter, who was on his way out. Peter said, ‘Oh how lovely to see you, I think your programmes are terrific’. I then remembered my promise and said, ‘Peter I’m desperately sorry, of course I looked everywhere for the Madagascan Pochard and unfortunately we never saw any’. And Peter said, ‘Well its not so bad, - I was watching your program last night, and I could see there were about 1500 of them!’. Sir David Attenborough
NESSIE AND THE GLASSES
“By now Peter was probably the most influential naturalist in the country. I met him one day in Bristol. I had gone there to do some programs of my own. I had just taken to wearing glasses and wasn’t very good at looking after them. They were always breaking and the lens tended to drop out. I was at a meeting when a lens popped out and somebody kindly sent my glasses to the camera workshop to be repaired and yes, they came back beautifully tightened. Peter had asked if I could meet him later that afternoon. I didn’t know what it was about.
When we finally got together, Peter said, “David I want your advice on a rather delicate subject – please could you look at this”…..and out of his briefcase he took this picture.
I thought I knew what it was – Peter’s idea of the Lochness Monster. Peter said “If there is a Lochness Monster, then we ought to give it a name so it can be put on the list of protected animals. So he had named it, Nessiteras rhombopteryx. In Latin that means, Monster from the Ness, with a diamond shaped fin, which seemed appropriate to me. Peter then asked ‘David, do you think I ought to publish this?’ So I took out my glasses and put them on. I must of looked rather clumsy because as I did so, both lenses dropped straight out. I think Peter thought I was mocking him! I decided to advise Peter that he should be very careful about going public because the evidence was a long way from conclusive.”
“In due course he did publish it, and sadly this did result in a lot of mockery. The telegraph (or its equivalent – I can’t remember now) suggested it was a joke to which he was a party because Nessiteras rhombopteryx, was actually an anagram for monster hoax by Sir Peter S. Of course, toward the end of his life he realized there is no Lochness Monster. Still, the world is poorer for that.” Sir David Attenborough
Sir David finished the evening taking some audience questions, and finally signing copies of his books. An incredible insight into two men’s lives, it was both a pleasant and informative evening. All we can suggest is that you take the opportunity to visit one of Scott’s Wetland Centres. If you want to find the one nearest to where you live, or simply to know more about the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust go to their website using this link . They are certainly worth a visit.
A.J Moore
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