WELCOME TO CHESHIRE BIODIVERSITY PART OF THE CHESHIRE REGION BIODIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP

Partnership working

Cheshire County Council is a partner in the Cheshire Region Biodiversity Partnership and is also represented on the Countdown Steering Group.

Officers from a range of Services lead and assist with a number of HAPs and SAPs and the Environmental Planning Service provides funding to support the BAP process and the production of the Countdown CD. The County Council also supports the Sites of Biological Importance (SBI) system and maintains the register in partnership with the Cheshire Wildlife Trust with advice from Natural England . The county also supports rECORD, the local record centre, which is collating terrestrial, freshwater and marine records.

Planning

In undertaking its statutory planning functions the Environmental Planning Service uses its extensive GIS database and digital aerial photography to inform the decision making process for planning applications submitted to the County Council for determination or as a statutory consultee to other authorities. Habitat and landscape enhancements are secured through planning conditions and agreements on a range of developments including schools, sewage works and sand quarries. Policies and proposals for the sustainable development, protection, management and enhancement of the county’s land, environment and resources are also included in the Structure, Waste and Mineral plans.

The County Council has developed a GIS web-based Toolkit, showing the existing wildlife resource of Cheshire and areas to expand and link wildlife (www.cheshire.gov.uk/srep). This is combined with a new concept called ECOscapes, developed by John Rodwell of University of Lancaster. The concept is based on the combination of the National Soil Map and the National Vegetation Classification (NVC). Nine ecoscapes have been identified within Cheshire, defined by environmental conditions, each with distinct vegetation types and a predictable series of replacement plant communities. The ECOscapes concept provides guidance on natural plant communities which can be incorporated into land management and restoration schemes.

Sandstone Ridge ECOnet Partnership

The County Council is leading on the development and implementation of an ecological network in Cheshire. Effort and emphasis is now being focused on creating habitats on the ground . Funding has been secured from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to prepare a development plan for the mid-Cheshire Sandstone Ridge, from Frodsham in the north to Bickerton in the south (www.cheshire.gov.uk/srep). A long list of 20 potential projects has been prepared, in partnership with landowners and farmers, communities and rural and land use agencies under broad themes 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; and coordinate and improve the interpretation of this special landscape. The projects will be pulled together and coordinated into a full application for long-term funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund Landscapes Partnerships Scheme and other funding initiatives.

A number of habitat improvement works within the Sandstone Ridge ECOnet Partnership area have already been initiated using funding from Cheshire County Council together with grants provided by the Aggregates Levy Fund and Cheshire Rural Trust. Practical schemes include: hedgerow planting on 12 farms around Tarporley, a hydrological study of Flaxmere Moss SSSI, restoration of mire and alder woodland habitat at Hatchmere, Abbots Moss and Pettypool Valley SSSIs, and fencing works to reinstate livestock grazing on meadows adjacent to the upper River Gowy.

Management of Cheshire’s habitats

The County Council’s Countryside Management Service manages a diverse range of country parks and open spaces across the county including areas of lowland heath, limebed and ancient woodland. The County Council also owns a large amount of land, from school grounds to the County Farm Estate where areas are managed for wildlife. Increasing areas of land on the County Farm Estate are managed for the benefit of wildlife through the Countryside Stewardship and the Forestry Commission’s JIGSAW schemes.

For further information contact:

WWW Cheshire Biodiversity Have you got a question about wildlife in the Cheshire region? If so, contact us on [email protected]!