Saving nature to secure Cheshire and Warrington’s future 

An ambitious strategy to halt nature’s decline and restore biodiversity across Cheshire and Warrington has been approved by local leaders across the area earlier this month.

Cheshire and Warrington’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) is a blueprint for nature’s recovery, with a focus on turning around decades of decline, which has seen Cheshire become one of the most species depleted counties in England.  The LNRS sets out what needs to be done to help nature recover, reduce risks from extreme weather events and support economic growth, and ensuring better places to live, work and play.

Cheshire is one of 48 counties in England, who have developed priorities, actions and mapping to encourage bigger, better and more joined up habitats that will help nature thrive over the next 10 years. The strategy highlights how nature is intertwined into everything that we do and what we can do to help it flourish. 

Cheshire West and Chester Council is the ‘responsible authority’ that led on the creation of the strategy alongside Cheshire East Council, Warrington Borough Council, Peak District National Park, Natural England, Forestry Commission and the Environment Agency. The Cheshire Local Nature Partnership, made up of key organisations including Cheshire Wildlife Trust, that champion nature and our landscape’s has been essential in developing the priorities and the map. The farming and landowning community, local businesses, individuals and representatives from the public health sector, have all provided valuable contributions as the plan has been developed.

The LNRS sets practical and achievable actions that will help restore and manage nature better. These include:

• Setting up a hedgerow recovery grant scheme to create or restore 5,000km of hedgerows (we currently have 1/3 of the hedges we had in 1976)
• Developing a Weaver-Gowy water and wildlife scheme to fund natural flood management, Sustainable urban Drainage Systems (SuDS) and other interventions to help reduce flooding, improve water quality and availability.
• A ‘Future Farmer Group’ to trial, showcase and promote ways that make farming more profitable, whilst boosting wildlife and providing broader benefits to the economy and wider society.
• Restoring our species-rich grasslands in urban and rural areas to support pollinators, store carbon, protect our soils and provide valuable natural greenspace, great spaces to live and work to support health, wellbeing and productivity.

Cheshire Wildlife Trust is proud to have contributed to the LNRS and we look forward to continuing to work with the Cheshire Local Nature Partnership for a wilder Cheshire.