Kingfishers Bridge was “almost exclusively a birder reserve” until the Covid-19 pandemic, with visitor numbers rising from about 2,000 in 2019 to 21,000 in 2023.
It now has a car park, a cafe, a visitor centre and a shop, as well as offering regular visitor tours of its rare habitats.
Mr Green said: “About 50 years ago, I realised that [to make] a wetland conservancy, it had to be with plenty of water to make it work, and so I made a lake – this followed with animals and birds using it every day.”
He praised manager James Moss for expanding and developing the habitats after the farm officially became a nature reserve.
“[He] gradually found the right places on land and water, leading to a wonderful nature reserve for which he had an extraordinary ability for managing,” Mr Green said.