Plans unveiled for £70 million wildlife reserve in west of England » Environment » 24dash.com

Plans for a £70 million world wildlife reserve in the west of England were unveiled today.

The 55-hectare Park proposed for land near junction 17 of the M5 motorway, in South Gloucestershire, will be the first conservation-led animal visitor attraction of its kind in the UK.

Unveiling the designs, Bristol Zoo Gardens said it is now set to submit proposals to South Gloucestershire Council - although planning permission has been in place for the park since 1967.

Bristol Zoo Gardens said the park, to open in 2012, will set "a new benchmark" for how zoos can support conservation in the wild and establish a more influential position in the global conservation movement.

The Park has been designed to link specific ecosystems and conservation programmes across the world with exhibits which will house wild animals such as tigers, black tip sharks, bonobos - a type of chimpanzee - and brown bears.

Director of Bristol Zoo Gardens, Dr Jo Gipps, said the Park aims to make the children of today the conservationists of tomorrow.

He said: "Submitting detailed plans to South Gloucestershire Council is an exciting and important step forward in the development of this ground breaking project.

"The Park will make a spectacular day out for visitors of all ages and interests. Stepping through the gates of the Park, visitors will be transported from the normality of the Gloucestershire countryside to an amazing world of wildlife.

"Visitors will feel immersed in ecosystems from all over the world, engaged in active conservation programmes and inspired to make their own real contribution to sustainable living."

It will be divided into exhibit areas which take visitors on a geographic journey to areas including the Congo Tropical Forest, Sumatra Rainforest, British Ancient Woodland and Indian Ocean Coral Reef.

In the Sumatra Rainforest exhibit, its proposed visitors will be able to step across a chasm caused by a seismic shift, listen to a troop of gibbons calling to each other as they swing through the trees and get close to Sumatran tigers via a transparent tiger tunnel.

Closer to home, the British Ancient Woodland exhibit will link with UK conservation programmes led by Bristol Zoo Gardens.

Here, visitors will travel back in time to see brown bears, lynx, wolves and other wildlife found in Britain hundreds of years ago, which have since been lost due to human activity.

Visitors will be able to go on an off road tour in the Tanzania Savannah exhibit - home to giraffe, rhino, zebra, cheetah, warthog and wild dogs.

While no further grant of planning permission is required to use the land as zoological gardens, discharge of conditions is still required to erect buildings and for other detailed works.

The land known locally as the Hollywood Tower Estate has been owned by Bristol Zoo Gardens since 1965.