Wetland walk honours conservation hero

Published on Monday 24 January 2011 16:42

HE FIRST discovered an interest in wildlife because his Antarctic explorer father believed it was "better than games".

Now the man credited with giving a scientific name to the Loch Ness Monster and founding a string of conservation charities is to be honoured with the creation of a commemorative walkway at the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust's Caerlaverock reserve in south-west Scotland.

The Sir Peter Scott Centenary Walkway, which has been designed to showcase the reserve's dragonflies and barnacle geese population, has been built to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the eminent conservationist, who founded the reserve in the 1970s.

Sir Peter, the son of explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott, is also a co-founder of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) and the global conservation organisation WWF.

The circular hike takes in a new dragonfly pond and has hides where bird-lovers can watch the kingfisher and sandmartin population, as well as look out for badger setts.

"It is the only area of the reserve with both trees and foliage, which attracts the small birds," said the centre's manager, Pam Mundy. "It also gets people walking among the reed beds, so they can see the reed warblers."

Reserve warden Mike Youdale said the WWT tried to continue the legacy of the work carried out by Sir Peter - who was born in 1909. The idea for the walkway has been in planning for more than a year.

"It was his centenary year and we thought it would be an ideal way to honour him as our founder," he said.

"We have had this area for a long time and we wanted to do something with it.

"We thought it would be really nice to open it up to the public and recognise the work of Sir Peter at the same time."

Sir Peter founded the Caerlaverock reserve, on the Solway Firth, in a bid to conserve the dwindling population of barnacle geese. There were just 250 in the area at that time - but the population has rocketed to as many as 35,000 today.

"We still try to follow his vision when we're working," added Mr Youdale. "He wanted to protect endangered species, not just in the UK, but across the world."

Sir Peter, best known to the public for his wildlife programme Look, which ran from 1955 to 1981, is credited with giving the scientific name of Nessi-teras rhombopteryx to the Loch Ness Monster, so it could be registered as an endangered species.

The name was taken from the Ancient Greek for "the wonder of Ness with the diamond shaped fin", but it was later claimed to be based on an anagram of the words "monster hoax".

The walkway is to be officially opened next month by Sir Peter's son, Falcon - named for his explorer grandfather.It is believed that Capt Scott encouraged Sir Peter - who was just two when his father died on an Antarctic expedition in 1912 - into his chosen career through a final letter to his wife, advising her to "make the boy interested in natural history if you can; it is better than games".

Dr Richard Dixon, director of WWF Scotland, said the walkway was a fitting memorial for Sir Peter.

He said: "He was one of the great figures of the environment movement. One of the things he is most strongly identified with is his bird-watching interest - so a walk by the Solway Firth where you can see a range of birds and wildlife is a fitting tribute."

During his career, Sir Peter received the WWF Gold Medal and the J Paul Getty Prize for his work, as well as being cited as a member of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, which credited him with playing a duck call on the song The Intro and the Outro.