Ducks Unlimited Canada, Wetland Discovery Centre, Oak Hammock Marsh
In their own words
The Harry J Enns Wetland Discovery Centre (Oak Hammock Marsh) opened in 1993 as a joint partnership between Ducks Unlimited Canada and the Province of Manitoba; since that time over a million guests have walked through the doors. The Centre is a wetland environmental education facility and offers a full range of on-site wetland education programs delivered through interactive exhibits, outdoor recreation, workshops, camps, special events, cultural initiatives, seasonal activities, and guided interpretive programs (onsite, offsite, and virtually) for all levels of school groups, families, seniors, tourists, drop-in visitors, and members. The Centre is located in a 3,600-hectare Provincial Wildlife Management Area surrounding a Ramsar-recognized wetland and Important Bird Area (Canadian designation). The site includes wetland boardwalks and viewing blind, walking trails, viewing mounds and canoe trails.
The Centre itself features a theatre, scenic-view café, gift shop, meeting rooms, rooftop observation deck, and interactive exhibits related to wetlands and their wildlife.
The Centre has won several local, national and international awards for the Centre, programming, and staff. Most recently the Centre won the Sustainable Tourism Award from the Tourism Industry Association of Canada.
The judges loved
Fully functional wetland centre, from CEPA to habitat management. Long partnership with Ducks Unlimited and the government over long timescale, and still evolving and reacting to expand programmes and wetland attraction.