The former home of the designer of the WWF's world-famous Chinese panda logo is to be opened to the public.
A restoration program, costing nearly 9 million U.S. dollars, was announced Wednesday by the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust. It will give public access for the first time to the home of the charity's founder Sir Peter Scott who in 1961 designed the panda logo.
Scott, who died in 1989, built his home, called Slimbridge, which overlooks the stunning Severn Estuary to enable him to observe wildlife.
The WWT's Slimbridge Wetland Center in Gloucestershire which surrounds Sir Peter's house receives 250,000 visitors a year.
There has never been public access to his house with its large windows overlooking the nature reserve and it remains as a timewarp, unchanged since his death.
Still in place are the binoculars he used to observe wildlife in the lake he created in front of the huge windows of the house. He chose the location in Gloucestershire after spotting a lesser white fronted goose, the first time the bird had been sighted in Britain.
The Heritage Lottery Fund on Wednesday announced a 6.5 million U.S. dollar grant towards the restoration cost. Work on the house will start in 2017 and take about a year, but the wetland nature reserve will remain open to the public.
The project will also see the building of an aviary and theater, more observation posts for wildlife enthusiasts and improved facilities for visitors.
A spokesman for the Wildfowl & Wetland Trust said: "We are delighted we will be able to tell the story of Sir Peter Scott and allow the public for the first time to step inside the home of the 'patron saint of conservation', thanks to an investment from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) towards the WWT project.
"The home of Sir Peter is a key part of the story of modern conservation. The global system for designating species as threatened, endangered or extinct was largely devised there by Scott as he helped to found the Wildfowl & Wetland Trust (WWF), the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the IUCN Species Survival Commission and many other organisations that have stopped many animals from going extinct."
Environment Minister Rory Stewart said today: "Sir Peter changed the way we think about conservation and the new center at Slimbridge will bring his legacy to life and continue the truly excellent work already underway to protect our wildlife."
Visitors to the restored house will have the chance to see his sketches of the panda logo he designed for WWF in 1961 and the swan logo he designed for the WWT. Sir Peter, son of British Antarctic explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott, was a founder member and first chairman of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
British naturalist and wildlife expert Sir David Attenborough said: "Long before words like biodiversity were coined, Peter looked out from that huge window in his house and realised our lives are so linked with our natural world that we have to learn to love it and look after it. I think it's wonderful that absolutely anyone will be able to sit in that same window in future years and feel just as inspired."
Sir Peter was named by his parents after the fictional character Peter Pan. The writer of the famous Peter Pan story, J.M. Barrie was a godparent to Peter Scott.
