Mace Fund Manchester Biodiversity Boost

Global Consultancy and Construction Company Mace Fund Manchester Biodiversity Boost

The Maximising Manchester’s Mosslands project will help to restore 157 hectares of Greater Manchester’s rare mossland habitats, supporting biodiversity.

Manchester’s mosslands are in trouble. Once covering approximately 35 km2, 99 per cent of these rare lowland raised peat bog habitats have been lost due to drainage for peat extraction and conversion to agriculture. The remaining fragments are isolated and in need of restoration.

Global consultancy and construction company, Mace, want to make a difference and so are funding the restoration of 157 hectares of these amazing habitats, with the aim of bringing biodiversity back to these rare and precious places.

Greater Manchester Wetlands Partnership Co-ordinator, Jo Kennedy, said: “The Maximising Manchester’s Mosslands project is amazing news for our mosslands. Not only do these habitats provide home for lots of rare and specialised wildlife, but they can also store huge amounts of carbon, and provide vital green spaces for our communities.

“Our mosslands used to be bursting with life, but hundreds of years of drainage and degradation has left them as either green arable deserts, or black desiccated wastelands. Without our help many of these habitats simply wouldn’t recover, so by committing to this five-year project Mace are really showing that they care about wildlife, people and our planet.”

The project will work on sites across the Great Manchester Wetlands Nature Improvement Area, with Lancashire Wildlife Trust carrying out the works on behalf of the Great Manchester Wetlands project partners. These works will include scrub and invasive species management, removing those plants which if left unchecked would outcompete the natural mossland plants. Further native plants such as sphagnum mosses, cotton grasses and heathers will be introduced to bolster the vital flora which so much wildlife depends on.

Additional work will be focussed on creating, and improving existing, bog pools. Dragonflies such as the black darter, broad-bodied chaser and four-spotted chaser will benefit from the bog pools acting as nurseries for their larvae and nymphs, as will the nationally rare cranefly phalocrocera replicate.

Mark Holmes, Deputy Chairman of Mace, said: “Mace is determined to be part of the solution to the climate challenge and is investing in nature’s recovery all over the world.

“This new partnership, focussing on the historic mosslands of Greater Manchester, represents a significant milestone for us as we work toward our ambition to deliver 500 hectares

of biodiversity gain by 2026.”

Neil Sheriff, Biodiversity Lead at Mace, said: “Every living creature on our planet is impacted by climate change which is why Mace aspires to lead the industry’s response by investing in nature’s recovery through the delivery of 500 hectares of biodiversity gain by 2026.

“This new partnership with Lancashire Wildlife Trust is an exciting and promising example of how we can promote biodiversity recovery to create a more sustainable world.”

Mace have also already worked with Lancashire Wildlife Trust to fund a feasibility study into the potential reintroduction of the locally extinct white-faced darter dragonfly. A mossland specialist, the white-faced darter would once have been a common sight on our mosslands. It is an indicator species of a healthy mossland and so the works completed during the Maximising Manchester’s Mosslands project could help to create the habitat required for a future reintroduction of this amazing species.

Photo: White-faced darter dragonfly - credit Vicky Nall

Black darter dragonflies rely on peat bogs, moors and acidic pools for their survival. Image by Vaughn Matthews

The Wildlife Trusts

The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside is dedicated to the protection and promotion of the wildlife in Lancashire, seven boroughs of Greater Manchester and four of Merseyside, all lying north of the River Mersey. It manages around 40 nature reserves and 20 Local Nature Reserves covering acres of woodland, wetland, upland and meadow. The Trust has 30,000 members, and over 1,200 volunteers. To become a member of the Trust go to the website at www.lancswt.org.uk or call 01772 324129