Nature Recovery Corridor

Over the last decade we’ve been hard at work with wildlife on our Nature Reserve and across our estate, and with communities & partners across the UK. It’s all been about boosting our knowledge to make large-scale UK landscape conservation in the UK a reality. And now, our next big project is underway!  

Now with new funding from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Green Recovery Challenge Fund, we’re developing an entire ‘Nature Recovery Corridor’ side by side with YOU, our home community.

The purpose of a wildlife corridor is to connect patches of fragmented habitat to form a functioning ecosystem over a large area, and we’re dreaming big with the concept. At completion, our Nature Recovery Corridor will cover a massive 10-mile stretch, connecting habitats reaching south of Chester through to Ellesmere Port in the North and turning the area into a thriving example of what the British nature can be.

We’re now one year into our Nature Recovery Corridor project, and we’re really proud of how much we’ve achieved:

• More than 23 hectares of meadow and long grass habitat, which provides essential habitat for pollinators has been established
• 5 hectares of canal has been cleared from the invasive plant floating pennywort, making the canal safer and more biodiverse, allowing an array of native wildlife such as otters and kingfishers to thrive
• 250m of wetland has been created to provide habitat for secretive birds such as snipe and water rail
• Reedbeds have been brought under sensitive management, enhancing nesting opportunity for migrant birds such as grasshopper and reed warblers
• New pond areas have been created to help aquatic life, including frogs, toads, newts and dragonflies, as well as providing a water source for mammals such as foxes and badgers
• Hedgerows have been restored, providing nectar in the spring for bees and berries in the winter for birds
• 30 native apple and pear trees have been planted to form a new orchard, providing vital new habitats
• In addition to these habitat improvements, community groups, schools and community leaders have been taking conservation action across the city including planting for pollinators, creating bog gardens, wildflower areas and bug hotels and installing ponds and bird boxes.

All of this is only be possible through close partnerships with the many groups in Cheshire striving for change alongside us. Here’s who we’re working with on the Nature Recovery Corridor:

	Cheshire West and Cheshire Council are aiming to sow 11 hectares of wildflower meadows across the duration of the project.
	The Canal and River Trust are managing invasive species in the canal. Most notably an invasive floating plant called Pennywort which reduces oxygen in the water and creates an unhealthy waterway for wildlife. The Canal and River Trust are also aiming to plant hedgerows and wildflower areas along the canal.
	The Land Trust are creating over 4 hectares of wildflower meadow, improving their Reedbed and are working on a hectare of woodland. They are also creating new ponds to benefit a huge diversity of wildlife.
	Sustrans are improving 4 hectares of habitat along the cycle cycles. They will include wildflower areas, beneficial bulbs and bug hotels. They are planning to create a fantastic area for wildlife to thrive at the Limewood field’s site too.
	Cheshire West Communities Together partner the Nature Recover Corridor by supporting our Community Engagement Team. They have been upskilling our team, helping to create links with the local community and offering time for individual and group reflections.

How can people get involved?

Already more than 7,000 people have joined us in getting involved with the Nature Recovery Corridor project. It means Community Conservation Action Days, bringing people together to help the Nature Recovery Corridor be fully realised. It means working with six schools and six community groups within the Recovery Corridor zone, providing them with a year of support to establish conservation and community involvement among an entire community of young people. It means new training courses in the skills of habitat management, and opportunities to become a Wildlife Champion, a programme we’re growing to help people connect with nature within their own communities. Alongside all of this is an accessible events programme and an entire range of digital engagement, real-world interpretation features, activity packs and resources, ensuring there’s something for everyone to get involved with.

It’s an incredible ambition and from now until Spring 2023 we’re be focusing this first phase of the project on the Chester area, covering just over six miles of the eventual ten mile stretch.