The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales Welsh Wildlife Centre in Cilgerran has received a confirmed grant of £10,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for an options appraisal project.

It will focus on improving the WTSWW visitor centre, infrastructure and ancillary buildings at the Teifi Marshes nature reserve.

The aim of the project will be to strengthen WTSWW’s financial resilience, increase the number and diversity of visitors, particularly during the off peak seasons and making the WWC buildings more sustainable.

Sarah Kessell, chief executive for WTSWW, said: “We are grateful to lottery players for this opportunity to invest in the Welsh Wildlife Centre.

"Income from our visitor centres helps to fund our conservation work and so directly benefits local habitats and species."

WWC and the Teifi Marshes is one of WTSWW’s flagship nature reserves and welcomes over 80,000 visitors per year.

The 300-acre reserve has four nature trails and is home to some of Wales’ iconic species of wildlife including kingfisher, otters and red deer.

The funding is a welcome boost after the park’s Kingfisher Hide was completely destroyed in an arson attack in September. At the time conservationists warned that its destruction could threaten the very future of the reserve,

A fundraising appeal aimed at raising around £20,000 to replace the hide with a fire-resistant structure has exceeded £4,000.

WTSWW are now hopeful that the options appraisal is the first step to improving the visitor experience and efficiency of the Welsh Wildlife Centre.

The options appraisal and other research collected during the duration of the project will be used to submit a full project application to HLF for the funding to implement the recommendations and to raise funds to match the HLF application. The project will run until June 2020.