Important update on Rye Meads Nature Reserve

Published: 15 Nov 2024
Updated: 29 Sept 2025
Topic: Rye Meads

We appreciate that those who enjoy visiting and supporting RSPB Rye Meads are keen to receive an update on its future, further to the short update we gave in our reserve blog in March when pylon work in our car park was being carried out.  

As you know, the RSPB has reviewed its operations across the UK so that everything we do aligns to our charitable and strategic aims and delivers the most impact for nature possible, with the resource we have. We must focus on what we do best and where we can do this most effectively, with the resources available to us.  

Following the challenges of the global and domestic financial pressures of the past few years, we looked at our nature reserve operations across the UK, including RSPB Rye Meads, for improvements and efficiencies – from how we do our work to where we buy the things we need to do it. This included a review of the retail, cafe and visitor experience offer on our nature reserves across the organisation.   

Throughout this year, we have been exploring options for the long-term future of Rye Meads, including potential change of management. We have been liaising with a number of organisations as we have been keen to ensure we fully explore and consider all options and opportunities. 

We are grateful for your patience during this period, as it is a complex process which takes time, and we want to be as thorough as we can before reaching any final decisions, to ensure the best possible outcome for the future of Rye Meads and the wildlife that lives there.  

We are proud of everything that has been achieved at Rye Meads over the years, and we look forward to continuing to welcome visitors over autumn, winter and into next year. Some staff changes mean we will be closed on Fridays and Saturdays for the time being, and we will provide further updates on Rye Meads’ social media pages when we have further news to share. In the meantime, thank you for your continued interest and support of Rye Meads and we hope to welcome you again soon. 

We will be ending the RSPB school education scheme at Rye Meads. 

We have always reviewed and refined our work to focus our resources and ensure we have the biggest impact we can. Following a comprehensive review of our education programmes, we have taken the difficult decision to cease the existing programme of school visits and education sessions guided by RSPB learning officers (also known as the Schools on Reserves programme). 

We are now developing a new education model that we believe, over time, will reach even more children and allow them to connect with nature in a much deeper way. 

Our education work will now focus on those areas where we can have the greatest impact and where we have a unique role to play. While we will cease the existing programme of school visits and education sessions guided by RSPB learning officers, we will explore new ways to welcome schools to our other nature reserves for free in the future – this will include providing resources to support teachers in planning their visits to our sites, the resources to deliver inspiring learning on our reserves and the guidance on how to extend the value of their visit once they’re back at school. We will be able to share more details about this new offer in 2025. 

In the meantime, we remain committed to supporting schools and teachers through activities such as Schools Wild Challenge and Big Schools’ Birdwatch, and by maintaining our current digital resources for teachers on our website. We are also increasing our work with schools through our new 'Environment Leaders' qualification and the development of a teacher CPD programme (Continuing Professional Development) that will build the skills and confidence of teachers to support learning in, through, about, and for nature. 

Young people are at the heart of what we do. This is why we offer free entry to nature reserves for those aged 16-24 and our Youth Council recently collaborated on the 2024 Youth in Nature Summit designed to inspire, empower and unite young people and leaders from across the environmental sector. 

Change of course is always challenging. Since the RSPB began 135 years ago, we have been working to help create a world where wildlife and people can thrive. As a responsible and prudent charity, we monitor the external environment closely and for the RSPB to continue to tackle the nature and climate emergency, we need to be able to adapt and evolve to the ever-changing external environment around us.    

Thanks to the generosity of our members, supporters, partners, funders and volunteers, the RSPB is the UK’s leading charity for nature conservation. For this to continue for years to come, we will be even more focused on where this generous support can have the biggest impact. Thank you for your support. 

We will continue to keep you updated on future developments on our Facebook page.