Osprey nature reserve awarded £500,000 for visitor centre

Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust secured a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund for the £1.1 million Dyfi Wildlife Centre project.

Based on Cors Dyfi Reserve, near Machynlleth, home of the Dyfi Osprey Project and 360 Observatory, the Wildlife Centre is expected to draw in 40,000 - 60,000 visitors per year.

The Heritage Lottery Fund will provide half of the project costs, the other half being funded by donations and membership appeals.

Emyr Evans, for the project, said it would create a flagship visitor centre on the banks of the Dyfi River one of the few lowland peat bog habitats remaining in Wales, giving a far richer and immersive experience for visitors and volunteers alike. “Showcasing the reserve’s rich biodiversity, including the Dyfi ospreys, a team of staff and 200 volunteers will communicate the cultural, industrial and natural heritage of the Dyfi River in the pioneering centre,” he said.

The centre will be the first carbon-positive building of its kind in Wales.

Work is expected to start in the autumn of next year with the centre open in spring 2020.

Mr Evans, Dyfi Projects Manager for Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust said: “This is the dawn of a new era for us. For 10 years we have been organically adding various elements to our visitor amenities at Cors Dyfi, but by today they are beginning to resemble tired, bolt-on features.

“This project allows us to build a great new visitor centre in mid Wales that will give adults and children alike an amazing experience of the ospreys, wildlife and the rich heritage of the Dyfi River. The Dyfi Wildlife Centre will complement the 360 Observatory we built on the reserve in 2014, again part-funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund,

“We will be able to open for eight months of the year instead of five as well as hosting special events during the winter months. It’s a great opportunity for communities to gather, work and learn together.”

He said that the community would be involved in every step of the project.

“Everybody is included and nobody excluded. We’d like to thank The Heritage Lottery Fund team for working with us on this great project over the last two years and allowing us to realise our dream of creating something remarkable on the banks of the Dyfi River.”