Wirral's Biodiversity Partnership

Wirral's Biodiversity Partnership includes representatives from: Cheshire Wildlife Trust, Natural England, RSPB, Riva 2005, The Environment Agency, LA 21, the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral (Department of Planning and Economic Development and Department of Education and Cultural Services), National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, Merseyside and West Lancashire Bat Group, Wirral Barn Owl Trust, and many other groups and individuals.

The key objectives of Wirral's Biodiversity Partnership can be summarised as follows:

• To prepare habitat and species action plans with targets, and guide their implementation within Wirral.
• To provide a liaison mechanism between groups and individuals in Cheshire and Merseyside, and promote biodiversity aims and objectives to the wider public.
• To identify and secure resources for biodiversity action planning, its implementation and monitoring.

Wirral's Biodiversity Technical Group is a core of individuals working on the technical detail of Biodiversity Action Plans for Wirral. The following habitats and species have been identified by the technical group as immediate priorities for Wirral; the list may be extended as new information comes to light. Some of these Plans have been reproduced for this document.

Lowland heath	Water vole
Maritime cliff and slope	Marine mammals
Coastal sand dune	Sand lizard
Coastal saltmarsh	Natterjack toad
Mudflats	Great crested newt
Coastal and floodplain grazing marsh	Isle of Man cabbage
Reedbeds	Mackay's horsetail
Boundary features	Rock sea-lavender
Lowland meadows	Dune fescue
Ponds	Colletes cunicularius (a mining bee)
Lowland mixed broadleaved woodland	Coelioxys mandibularis (a cuckoo bee
	Podalonia affinis (a sand wasp)
Barn owl	Sandhill rustic (a moth)
Brown hare	Belted beauty (a moth)
Bats	Other birds (yet to be finalised)

Christine Smyth in the Council's Education and Cultural Services Department has been given specific responsibility for co-ordinating the BAP process within the Borough. She can be contacted on: 0151 637 6206.

The Partnership has web-pages with Biodiversity news located at: www.wirral.gov.uk/ed/biodiversity/home.htm

Since last year the plan has been approved by committee Feb 2003. A Mayor's reception has been held for voluntary groups working in the environment. An A3 fold out leaflet entitled 'get into Wirral's biodiversity' and an A1 poster entitled 'Wirral, a place for wildlife and people' showing biodiversity species have been produced. A workshop for owners of SBI's on how to apply for external funding was run jointly with the rangers, Forestry Authority and DEFRA.

Wirral’s Biodiversity Partnership has been awarded Big Lottery funding of £65,000 over three years. Extra funding of £20,000 has been made available from the Council’s Local Agenda 21 fund. The grants will fund 25 separate biodiversity projects derived from the targets in Wirral’s Biodiversity Action Plan

Wirral Ranger Service

The main vehicle for delivery of BAP action within The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral's Department of Education and Cultural Services is the Ranger Service. They achieve this in a variety of ways, including:

• education about biodiversity both in schools and at specialist centres around Wirral
• guided walks and events with an emphasis on conservation and biodiversity
• supporting and encouraging the formation of voluntary groups and partnerships with the aim of increasing public involvement in biodiversity action. Rangers can help in many ways, for instance: providing venues for meetings; providing tools and other resources; offering training for volunteers, and specialist advice.
  
  

Wirral's Wildlife Resource

Some idea of the richness of Wirral's biodiversity can be gained from the presence within the borough of many local, national and international wildlife designations.

There are twelve Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI's) two of which - the Dee and Mersey Estuaries - are also listed as Wetlands of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention and as Special Protection Areas (SPA), under European Habitat Regulations for their bird interest.

In addition to these, the Dee Estuary and North Wirral Foreshore are designated as a Sensitive Marine Area. The Dee Estuary is a candidate Special Area for Conservation (SAC) under European Habitat Regulations.

There are five Local Nature Reserves (LNR's), and a further four: North Wirral Coastal Park, Caldy Hill and Stapledon Woods, The Wirral Way, and Eastham Woods are proposed for designation.

Wirral has over seventy Sites of Biological Importance (SBI's).These are listed in the Unitary Development Plan.

The Borough is a major landowner and as such, is in a position to influence wildlife management in a positive way. A review of the Unitary Development Plan is underway and a policy on Biodiversity is included in the first deposit draft. Biodiversity targets have been included in Wirral’s Community Strategy.