NewsWire
How Greater Manchester is going green for conservation
Greater Manchester region birders adopt new initiatives to help save the planet
New Year’s Day saw the start of the official United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, and The Greater Manchester Birding City Region Project (GMBCR) has become officially affiliated to the project.
James Walsh, also known as the Mancunian Birder, said: “The next decade is vitally important to the future of the earth’s ecosystems. We have had the scientific reports and the warnings and now it really is time to ‘save the planet’. Ecosystem restoration is key to finding solutions to some of the biggest environmental problems on the planet, such as climate change and the destruction of the Amazon Rainforest. 2021 to 2030 is certainly the decade to ‘act local, think global’.”
He said that as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, Manchester has a big part to play in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
The GMBCR Project used 2020 as a springboard to the decade, starting a number of projects to bring focus to the city’s environment, including The Perfect Ten, 10 bird species selected to represent its boroughs, and the eco-birding cycling initiative, The Big Year in Greater Manchester.
Perfect Ten
It staged the Greater Manchester Natural Capital Conference at the Chamber of Commerce back in February 2020, the online premiere of ‘The Perfect Ten’ film at the virtual Manchester Festival of Nature 2020, the virtual Greater Manchester Green Summit 2020, worked with Friends of Carrington Moss on ‘Plan Bee’, and supported the Wigan National Nature Reserve bid.
Shaun Hargreaves, of the GMBCR Project, said: “We have managed to communicate better this year with organisations on Zoom, Webex and Webinars than we would in a ‘normal’ year. We also renewed our pledge and are looking to build on all the projects that we have initiated since the start of the GMBCR Project in March 2018, in particular the Birding Cycling Initiative.
“Birding and cycling addresses two of the biggest issues of our time, the biodiversity crisis and the climate emergency. We are calling for both birding and cycling to be given a higher profile and increased investment in the Greater Manchester city region.”
James Walsh added: “We are looking forward to the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, and to using the skills we have in book writing, ecology, journalism and promotion to inform, educate and inspire people about the environment.”
The GMBCR Project will be working with Lancashire Wildlife Trust, Manchester Festival of Nature, the Bee Network, Wigan National Nature Reserve bid committee, the Friends of Carrington Moss, Save The Greenbelt, the Greater Manchester Green City Region staff, the office of the Greater Manchester Metro Mayor and all the borough councils, towards the aim of Greater Manchester becoming a “world-leading Green City Region”.
● Further information is available at: decadeonrestoration.org or to watch the Greater Manchester Birding City Region Launch Film visit: youtu.be/ ataRCr1lcEw