Wigan National Nature Reserve

James Walsh · Status: Offline

RE: Wigan National Nature Reserve

James Walsh · Status: Offline

Looking forward to the Zoom event on 7th November

John Watson · Status: Offline

This is excellent, and seems to complement the Mersey Forest and Sankey Valley initiatives farther West

It seems to be proposed by the slightly broader "Carbon Landscape" scheme, which "encompasses the wetlands of Wigan, the mosslands in Salford and Warrington and the Mersey Wetlands corridor stretching from Rixton to the Manchester Ship Canal, including the Woolston Eyes SSSI in Warrington" according to the website

Once established, I'd hope the NNR could be extended to include other areas, such as Little Woolden Moss, Cadishead Moss & maybe parts of Chat Moss. These wildlife corridors are so important

Funding is everything, so I hope they achieve their goals

GM Local Record Centre · Status: Offline

Natural England has secured funding to start work on establishing a Greater Manchester Nature Recovery Network and also on designating a new National Nature Reserve covering the Abram Flashes, Bickershaw CP, Pennington Flash, the Wigan Flashes and other sites within the Wigan Greenheart. Partners in the project include the Greater Manchester Ecology Unit, Lancashire Wildlife Trust and Wigan Council.

Attached is a Natural England publication on the Nature Recovery Network which explains what the networks are and how they fit into the New Nature Strategy. One of the three main objectives (see page 3) is that by 2042 "wildlife populations will be recovering and species returning to their natural ranges."

The project is keen to engage local wildlife groups, individual recorders and anyone interested in enhancing and protecting wildlife sites in Wigan and conserving the species they support. To find out more about the project and how you could contribute you are invited to attend:

PUBLIC MEETING to be held on Zoom on Saturday 7th Nov at 10am. Chair Amanda Wright of Natural England.

Achieving National Nature Reserve (NNR) status means that the wetland corridor between Scotsman's Flash, Wigan and Pennington Flash, Leigh will be nationally recognised and protected for its importance to rare species, the environment and the local community. If successful, this will be the first NNR in Greater Manchester.

The 1.5 hour session will introduce this exciting opportunity and opportunities for you to be involved. All participants will directly support the initiative aiming to achieve ground-breaking NNR status for Wigan and Leigh.

Booking is essential. To reserve your place go to Proposing-a-national-nature-reserve-from-wigan-flashes-to-pennington-flash

-- Edited by GM Local Record Centre on Wednesday 28th of October 2020 11:56:46 AM