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• Introduction
• Why do we need an ecological network?
• What difference will an ecological network make?
• How the ecological network is being developed

Introduction

Expanding and linking areas for wildlife to create an ecological network across Cheshire is an ambitious, long-term and large-scale initiative which will have a lasting impact on the county and those who live and work in it.

By 2020 the Ecological Network for Cheshire will encompass nearly 4,000 hectares of new and restored peatlands, heathlands, woodlands, meadows and wetlands linked together with existing priority habitats to form a coherent and sustainable network that will improve conditions for many species of plants and animals.

The rural economy will be boosted through the diversification of farm incomes and the county’s increased recreational appeal. People’s contact with nature will increase, improving understanding and changing attitudes. By using the network as guidance, development and land use planning will work with, and not against, nature.

Why do we need an ecological network?

As across much of Europe, in Cheshire increased demands on land for agriculture, housing and transport over the last 50 years has changed the face of the landscape. Wildlife habitats have become too small, fragmented and isolated to survive, and many plants and animals are under threat.

Past wildlife conservation has focused on key sites, of which many have become protected areas. It is now recognised that this approach is insufficient to ensure the survival of valued habitats and species, many of which utilise the wider landscape outside protected areas.

Saving wildlife will require us to reshape our work and thinking. To be effective, the conservation of nature and habitats must be planned and implemented on large spatial scales and over long periods. Expanding and linking areas for wildlife to create ecological networks offers a possible solution to this formidable challenge.

What difference will an ecological network make?

The Cheshire ECOnet is the only project of its kind in the UK. It is led by Cheshire County Council Environmental Planning Service, with the support and involvement of a wide range of rural agencies, landowners and farmers, community groups and individuals, who share the vision and see the creation of a network as:

• Contributing to rural regeneration and sustaining the rural way of life
• Improving the tourism product that attracts people to Cheshire
• Enhancing the image of Cheshire in the NW, UK and overseas
• Contributing to human well-being
• Enhancing the viability of ecosystems and improving conditions for biodiversity
• Improving people’s quality of life

How the ecological network is being developed

The creation of an ecological network for Cheshire is ambitious, long-term and large-scale, and is being progressed in a methodical, sequential timescale.

Inception (1996 – 99)  In 1996, Cheshire County Council together with the local support of English Nature and the Universities of Salford and Liverpool John Moores, began work to define an ecological network for Cheshire.  This successfully defined the coarse spatial structure of the network using existing data analysed with the County Council’s Geographic Information system combined with maps, aerial photographs and landscape ecology principles.

Demonstration (Life ECOnet Project, 1999 – 2003)  In 1999, the County Council took forward its ideas into a demonstration phase, and led a successful multinational consortium bid for funding from the European Commission’s LIFE-Environment Programme with other local authorities, private industry and universities from across the North West, and other regions in Italy and the Netherlands. 

The aim of the £3.16 million Life ECOnet Project was to explore with local people in Cheshire and two regions of Italy (Abruzzo and Emilia-Romagna) how to expand and connect areas for wildlife, and demonstrate how these ecological networks could be used to help achieve more sustainable land use planning and management and overcome the problems of habitat loss, fragmentation and species isolation.  Partners from Gelderland in the Netherlands who are pioneers in developing ecological networks advised the project. 

Feasibility Study (Dec 2003- July 2004)  A key element of the next stage was to make explicit the links between biodiversity and social and economic benefits.  With the support of the North West Development Agency and Forestry Commission, a Feasibility Study was undertaken to quantify the economic, regeneration and social benefits and then assess their suitability for future funding by NWDA and others.

Development Plan (July 2004 – June 05)  The findings from the Feasibility Study will be fed into the preparation of a Development Plan for the 1st Implementation Phase of the ecological network focusing on the Mid-Cheshire Sandstone Ridge.  The Heritage Lottery Fund through its Landscape Partnerships Scheme is supporting the preparation of the Plan which will identify individual projects that:

• Expand and link areas for wildlife
• Increase public enjoyment of the landscape
• Celebrate the local cultural associations with the Ridge
• Support rural skills through training
• Coordinate and improve the interpretation of this special landscape

By the end of the Plan period a suite of complementary projects will be pulled together and coordinated into a larger programme for long-term funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund Partnerships Scheme and other funding initiatives.

Phase 1 Implementation (2005 – 2010)  The Sandstone Ridge between Frodsham and Bickerton has been chosen as the first implementation phase of the network.  Scientific analysis has indicated that the development of this zone (encompassing 22,000 hectares or 10% of Cheshire) deserves the highest ecological priority as it contains a potential chain of interconnected woodland networks, alternating with two interconnected heathland networks and two isolated but locally sustainable peatland networks.  It also contains priority areas for grassland development.