WWT Caerlaverock is wetland

Wetland

A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....

 nature reserve

Nature reserve

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

 in southwest Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, one of nine reserves in Britain operated by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust

Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust

The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust is a wildfowl and wetland conservation charity in the United Kingdom. Its patron is Queen Elizabeth II.It was founded in 1946 by the ornithologist and artist Sir Peter Scott, initially as the Severn Wildfowl Trust...

 founded by Sir Peter Scott

Peter Scott

Sir Peter Markham Scott, CH, CBE, DSC and Bar, MID, FRS, FZS, was a British ornithologist, conservationist, painter, naval officer and sportsman....

.

It covers a 587 hectare

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

 site at Eastpark Farm, on the north shore of the Solway Firth

Solway Firth

The Solway Firth is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between Cumbria and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven in Cumbria, to the Mull of Galloway, on the western end of Dumfries and Galloway. The Isle of Man is also very...

 to the south of Dumfries

Dumfries

Dumfries is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth. Dumfries was the county town of the former county of Dumfriesshire. Dumfries is nicknamed Queen of the South...

. It is a wild nature reserve with a network of screened approaches and several observation towers. There is a visitor centre and farmhouse accommodation.

Caerlaverock is home to one of only two UK populations of the "living fossil" Triops cancriformis

Triops cancriformis

Triops cancriformis, or tadpole shrimp , is a species of tadpole shrimp found in Europe, the Middle East and Japan....

, the Horseshoe Shrimp.

Almost the entire Svalbard

Svalbard

Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic, constituting the northernmost part of Norway. It is located north of mainland Europe, midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The group of islands range from 74° to 81° north latitude , and from 10° to 35° east longitude. Spitsbergen is the...

 population of Barnacle Goose

Barnacle Goose

The Barnacle Goose belongs to the genus Branta of black geese, which contains species with largely black plumage, distinguishing them from the grey Anser species...

 overwinters in the Solway Firth area, with many of the birds often at Caerlaverock for part or all of the winter; their protection by the reserve has enabled the population to recover from just 500 birds in the 1940s, to over 25,000 now.

In January 2002, a new education centre was officially opened by King Harald V of Norway

Harald V of Norway

Harald V is the king of Norway. He succeeded to the throne of Norway upon the death of his father Olav V on 17 January 1991...

.