North Cave Wetlands is an important site for Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and identified as one of its significant opportunities for growth. It currently has limited visitor facilities and the team wants to explore what would work on the reserves, while also protecting its habitats.

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The site has grown from a small reserve of local and specialist interest 20 years ago, to a place now receiving an estimated 35,000 visits a year and with the capacity for more.

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I carried out audience research to understand what current and potential visitors wanted from the site, looked at local demographics to review potential growth, led an ecological review of the site focused on how to improve how visitors saw wildlife and undertook an assessment of how to improve the offer as the reserve grew. This included looking at best practise from across the sector.

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I delivered a paper for the senior leadership team to help review the role of North Cave in its portfolio, including an options appraisal looking at the potential for new facilities, while maintaining a balance between visitor access and habitat management.

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The work was completed in January 2023.

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https://www.ywt.org.uk/nature-reserves/north-cave-wetlands-nature-reserve

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