News
The Carbon Landscape Project Launch
The £3.2M Heritage Lottery supported Carbon Landscape project was launched on Thursday 28th September at the Astley Mining Museum in Wigan.
The Carbon Landscape aims to develop a new community-focused approach to the restoration of a landscape transformed by heavy industries such as coal mining, peat extraction and steel production.
The project is led by the Great Manchester Wetlands Partnership which brings together local authorities, NGOs, environmental charities, private businesses and passionate community groups.
The project is managed by the Lancashire Wildlife Trust and involves 22 partners who will restore more than 130 hectares of degraded landscape to nature, train more than 1000 volunteers and offer an education programme to 40 schools. The Carbon Landscape will build on existing work to connect areas of green space to create a more resilient landscape.
It will include the Carbon Trail – a route linking wild space between urban areas; Carbon Volunteers – getting people involved in improving the landscape, and the Mossland Gateway – which will improve pedestrian and cyclist assess to Chat Moss in Salford.
The Carbon Landscape is a major element of plans to rejuvenate the broader Great Manchester Wetlands, which was identified in 2011 as a local Nature Improvement Area by the Greater Manchester Natural Capital Group. The project represents a significant investment in the Natural Capital of Greater Manchester. A number of initiatives within the Carbon Landscape portfolio will contribute to improved water quality, increased flood resilience and improved biodiversity and will be developed in association with Natural Course partners.
“The Carbon Landscape encompasses both nationally and internationally important wetlands, so we have a responsibility to save them,” said Lancashire Wildlife Trust Chief Executive Anne Selby. “The sheer scale of this project is bigger, better and more joined up conservation, creating a resilient, inspirational landscape.”
“This project is changing the way in which we approach landscapes and communities in Wigan, Salford and Warrington,” said Carbon Landscape Programme Manager Anna Hetterley. “22 interlinked projects will provide a radical and effective programme that will have lasting benefits for local communities and wildlife”.
You can follow the progress of the project on Twitter @TheRoundView and @carbonlands