In a move unusual at the time, he opened the site to the public so that everyone could enjoy access to nature.

WWT Consulting was an offshoot of the Wildlife & Wetland Trust and was based at Slimbridge.

It provided ecological surveys and assessments, and offered consultancy services in wetland habitat design, wetland management, biological waste-water treatment systems and the management of reserves and their visitor centres.

WWT and the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology hatched several clutches of eggs in captivity, and released the 21 birds onto Lake Sofia in 2018.

[12] WWT's aviculturists’ started hand-rearing critically endangered spoon-billed sandpiper chicks, and reared 16 in northern Russia in 2013, which boosted the global number of fledglings by 25%.

At one time, the trust operated a consultancy business that provides external clients with a comprehensive range of wetland services.