Chester Zoo have been awarded £318,000 in additional funds to help accelerate nature recovery and improve wildlife conservation efforts across Cheshire.
In the scheme backed by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the popular North West tourist destination and one of the best zoos in the world, let alone the UK, has been handed over £300k to put towards ensuring a better future for local nature and its inhabitants throughout the region.
Chester Zoo‘s nature recovery and animal conservation work will see them develop detailed plans to restore vital habitats for wildlife and create new ones for severely declining UK species, through a new project called ‘Networks for Nature’.
Some truly crucial work, this.
Excited to share that this NEW Networks for Nature project is possible thanks to @HeritageFundUK and National Lottery players, who are helping to ensure a brighter future for wildlife in Cheshire! 🚀🐸🐝🌸🦊🐍 pic.twitter.com/zXj5mS1zyI
With around 50% of UK species reported to be in decline, including the likes of great crested newts, the black poplar — Britain’s most endangered native timber tree — and the water vole which has been lost from 94% of places where they were once prevalent since the 1960s, we must act now rather than later.
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With that in mind, Chester Zoo will now work closely with local organisations and partners over the next 14 months to begin the nature recovery work and, hopefully, ensure a robust second-round application can be submitted to The National Lottery Heritage Fund in 2025.
Better still, the zoo will be working alongside Cheshire West and Chester Local Authority, Cheshire Wildlife Trust; the Canal and River Trust; Sustrans, the Land Trust and Cheshire West Communities Together to improve land holdings across Cheshire’s natural landscape and engage with the community.
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This really is a team effort, with everyone chipping in to look after our precious biomes and all within them, not mention secure their future for generations to come. We don’t want any more news like the fate of the River Lim last month.
Chester Zoo’s Community Engagement Manager, Hannah Brooks, said: “We’re in the midst of a global biodiversity crisis. The UN estimates that one million species are at risk of extinction, including many here in the UK, meaning there’s never been a more pressing time to stand together for nature.”
“Nature is in need of urgent help and our new Networks for Nature project will create a thriving, better connected, wildlife-rich landscape across the North West and Cheshire, benefitting both nature and the surrounding communities.
“Maintained through a strong partnership of local organisations, this grant will enable a comprehensive and joined-up response to tackling habitat fragmentation and degradation, and urban isolation from nature… make nature more accessible and inclusive for everyone to improve wellbeing and empower more people to have an active role in conservation, with the skills and know-how needed to create and grow biodiverse habitats.
“By coming together, we can make a significant difference to improving nature in Cheshire, and contribute to the global effort to protect and restore biodiversity.” Brilliant stuff.
You can email [email protected] for more information or to find out how you can get involved, and you can learn more about what the zoo is doing to look after our beloved animal friends and their surroundings down below:
Greater Manchester officially launches five-year climate change action plan
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester has officially begun its five-year climate change action plan, with the overarching goal of becoming a net-zero city region by 2038.
The comprehensive pledge put together over a number of years itself will see Manchester City Council and the nearby local authorities put into action a number of key measures that will help to reduce not only central carbon figures but, eventually, across the 10 boroughs in turn.
Over the last 15 years, emissions have been reduced by approximately 64%, saving an estimated 44,344 tonnes of carbon through cleaner building energy, street lighting and other electronics, as well as the increasingly green and over-growing Bee Network.
They have also insisted that it isn’t just about cutting down on greenhouse gases; the aim is to make the city region and the surrounding areas more sustainable, affordable and create a better standard of life.
Our five-year plan to tackle climate change launches today. 🌏
It details how we’ll continue to deliver dramatic reductions in the amount of carbon we emit (the biggest contributor to climate change). 🏙️
As per the summary on the Council website, in addition to creating more efficient homes, they’re hoping to provide more access to nature and good-quality green space, “public transport you can rely on”, and “better health and wellbeing for those who live, work, study and visit here.”
With a steadily recovering local and national economy (touch wood), they’re also hoping for an influx of new jobs, too.
Summarising the key bullet points leading up to the end of the decade, these are the next steps currently outlined by the Council:
Lower carbon emissions
Grow the use of renewable energy
Improve low-carbon travel in the city
Improve air quality
Grow the city’s natural environment and boost biodiversity
Improve resilience to flooding and extreme heat
Engage and involve our workforce and our city’s communities
Reduce waste and grow reuse, repair, sharing and recycling
Support a move to a more circular economy
Minimise the negative impact of events held in the city
Develop our knowledge of our indirect emissions and lower them
Create a green financing strategy and explore new funding models for the city
Influence the environmental practices of other organisations
As for emissions, the target is now to drop the present output by another 34%, which will prevent almost 43,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from being pumped into the atmosphere.
Having touched upon the continued expansion of the Bee Network infrastructure, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is also set to install multiple new travel links over the coming years, including both new tram stops and train stations – further
You can read the climate action plan in full HERE.
Manchester’s firework displays are ‘back with a bang’ as they return from 2026
Emily Sergeant
Council-organised firework displays in Manchester’s parks are set to return from next year, it has been confirmed.
You may remember that these once-popular events have not been held since 2019, as the COVID-19 pandemic initially prevented them from taking place from 2020 onwards, and then following that, they remained paused on a trial basis while the Manchester City Council sought to ‘reprioritise funding’ to support a wider range of free community events across the city.
But now, as it seems, the door was never shut on their potential return.
An ‘improved financial position’ now means that the Council is in a position to bring firework events back, while also still continuing to support other community events.
Papers setting out the Council’s financial position show that fairer funding being introduced by the Government next year will leave the Council better off than previously anticipated, he the reason firework displays have been brought back into the mix.
The Council has admitted that ‘pressures remain’ after so many years of financial cuts, but this new funding creates the opportunity to invest in the things residents have said matter the most to them.
“Manchester prides itself on free community events and we know many people have missed Bonfire night firework spectaculars,” commented Cllr Bev Craig, who is the Leader of Manchester City Council.
“That’s why we are pleased to confirm they’ll be back by popular demand in 2026.
“We know that generations of Mancunians have enjoyed Council-organised displays and that free family events are a great way to bring people together… [and] now that this Government is actually investing in Councils like ours rather than the cuts we had since 2010, we can bring back Bonfire events.”
Danny Jones -
21st June 2023 
