World Wetlands Day celebrations offer the perfect excuse to explore spectacular wetlands within easy reach of Putney – and one comes with free tickets this week.
London Wetland Centre in Barnes is offering free entry from Friday 31 January through Friday 7 February. Claim tickets online with an email address at the WWT website. Meanwhile, the wetlands on Wimbledon and Putney Commons are thriving, with Queensmere Pond nearly full again after recent rains. These urban oases provide both environmental education and proven mood-boosting benefits.
Research shows just 10 minutes in wetland settings improves wellbeing, according to WWT Chief Executive Sarah Fowler. “Amazing things can happen in wetlands,” Fowler said. “These inspiring spaces quiet the noise of everyday life and give us the opportunity to get up close to nature.”
Free tickets to London Wetland Centre
The 105-acre wildlife haven in Barnes sits just 25 minutes’ walk from Putney Bridge via the Thames towpath. Bus 485 runs directly to the centre from Putney, or catch routes 33, 378, or 419 to the Red Lion stop on Castelnau.
Free parking is available on site, including accessible bays and electric vehicle charging points. The centre is open seven days a week with last admission one hour before closing.
For World Wetlands Day, the centre is offering a penny-coin map adventure where visitors flip a coin to decide their path through the reserve. The site features six hides for wildlife watching, accessible paths, a three-storey viewing tower, café, and adventure playground for children.
Winter visitors can spot nationally important numbers of gadwall and shoveler ducks, along with regular bittern sightings. Breeding birds include little ringed plover, lapwing, water rail, and sand martin. Kingfishers, grebes, and up to seven species of bat make the wetlands home. The centre also supports water voles, slow-worms, grass snakes, and common lizards.
Wimbledon and Putney Commons wetlands
The wetlands on Wimbledon and Putney Commons are thriving. Queensmere Pond has refilled after recent rains, according to a post from the Commons conservators celebrating World Wetlands Day.
The Commons support nine ponds and wetland areas, providing habitat for amphibians, invertebrates, and wildfowl. These wetlands benefit from a £10,500 community fundraising campaign in May last year that funded a specialist hydrology study to protect the rare ecosystem.
The Commons are also home to Beverley Brook, which flows through Wimbledon Common despite facing periodic pollution challenges. Conservation efforts continue to protect and restore these vital habitats. Barnes Common, where Beverley Brook also flows, hosts additional wetland habitat and reedbeds that support fish, water voles, and birds including Cetti’s warblers.
Why wetlands matter
World Wetlands Day marks the anniversary of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, signed in 1971 to protect these critical ecosystems. This year’s theme celebrates “Wetlands and traditional knowledge: Celebrating cultural heritage.”
Wetlands support biodiversity, improve water quality, provide flood management, and offer accessible green space for urban communities. For Putney residents, three distinct wetland experiences sit within a half-hour journey, each offering different wildlife, access, and atmosphere.
The London Wetland Centre free ticket offer expires Friday 7 February. Plan a visit this week to mark World Wetlands Day while exploring one of the capital’s most remarkable wildlife havens.
