Gowy and Mersey Washlands | The Wildlife Trusts

Join us

Gowy Meadows_Andrew Walmlsey

Creating a network of wetland habitats

Cheshire Wildlife Trust

The project area follows the course of the River Gowy from its source on the Sandstone Ridge to where is joins the River Mersey, then extending up the Mersey corridor to include Frodsham Marsh and on through Runcorn and into Warrington

The vision for the The Gowy and Mersey Washlands is to restore, recreate and reconnect a network of wetland habitats providing ecosystem services in conjunction with high-quality nature conservation resources which will benefit local people, the environment and the local economy.

Virtual tour by Mike McFarlane

What's happening?

Three strands of work are delivering the Gowy and Mersey Washlands:

1. Landscape-scale wetland creation through landowner liaison and advocacy – restoring, recreating and reconnecting the floodplain.

2. Land management – reducting the fragmentation of wetlands to help cornerstone species to disperse, re-colonise and thrive. Making space for water by promoting more sustainable flood management which will help reduce the impact of climate change.

3. Community engagement – enabling communities living and working in the landscape to experience it .

Start date: Nov 2009

Scheme area: 8,335 hectares

Trust reserves within the scheme

Frodsham Field Studies Centre, Gowy Meadows and Hockenhull Platts

This scheme is helping species including...

Curlew, snipe, lapwing, redshank, water vole, otter, great crested newt, lesser silver water beetle and mud snail.

Current threats to the landscape

Habitat fragmentation (discontinuous river bank cover), intensive grazing, pollution caused by agricultural run-off, inappropriate ditch management and lack of cooperative working between neighbouring landowners.

This scheme is also...

Helping wildlife adapt to climate change, reducing flood risk, storing carbon, improving access for people, providing recreational opportunities, health benefits, volunteering opportunities, skills training and environmental education, producing local food.

Partne

Natural England, Environment Agency, RSPB, Local Authorities, The British Association for Shooting and Conservation.

To find out more

Email: info@cheshirewt.org.uk | Tel: 01948 820728 | Gowy and Mersey Washlands

Living Landscapes

Find out more about our Living Landscape conservation work - targeting areas for landscape-scale nature conservation and transforming places for people and wildlife.