Sir Peter Scott was one of the UK’s most esteemed conservationists as well as the son of Antarctic explorer Captain Scott and godson of Peter Pan author JM Barrie.

Also a popular television presenter, Sir Peter's pioneering television career in the 1950s inspired many broadcasters, including Sir David Attenborough, who commented: “Peter is and always will be the patron saint of conservation. Long before words like ‘biodiversity’ were coined, Peter looked out from that huge window in his house at Slimbridge and realised our lives are so linked with our natural world that we have to learn to love it and look after it. I think it’s wonderful that absolutely anyone will be able to sit in that same window in future years and feel just as inspired.”

[quote=HLF Trustee Jim Dixon]"I can’t think of a more fitting way to use National Lottery players’ money than by marking Sir Peter’s global reputation."[/quote]

Sir Peter broadcast BBC programmes directly from his home at Slimbridge Wetland Centre in Gloucestershire. He presented the BBC’s first-ever natural history programme live from his studio lounge in May 1953. The HLF grant will enable his house to be renovated so that visitors can look around it as part of the ‘Scott Tour’ which will also include the grounds. There will be new attractions such as more hides and opportunities to see WWT’s world-renowned conservation breeding duckery.

Environment Minister Rory Stewart said: “The Wildfowl & Wetland Trust do really important work looking after our landscapes and wildlife, and I’m delighted HLF is supporting the Trust to honour the memory of the great Sir Peter Scott."

HLF Trustee Jim Dixon added: "I can’t think of a more fitting way to use National Lottery players’ money than by marking Sir Peter Scott’s global reputation and giving Slimbridge a renewed role to celebrate the work he pioneered and loved.”

Sir Peter Scott - a Renaissance Man

• Sir Peter was a famous broadcaster: he commentated on the television broadcast of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. He presented the first BBC nature television programme Look from 1955 to 1981, which included the first BBC wildlife documentary filmed in colour in 1963
• He was an artist and inventor: Sir Peter invented the trapeze that racing crews use to hang from a sailing boat; the rocket net which catches birds; and he helped design the camouflage used by British Second World War warships. His best-known painting, Taking to Wing, has been printed 350,000 times as a picture on Christmas cards and table mats
• He was an accomplished sportsman. Sir Peter was British gliding champion, a National Championship-standard ice skater and won a bronze Olympic medal for sailing