Horwich Advertiser Issue 620

Page 12 March 2025 AD SALES 01204 478812 Feel the benefit of solar power, save money on your energy bills, and help tackle climate change. Scan to see if you qualify for free or discounted home upgrades. SPECIAL REPORT (Photo credit: AJ Critch Wildlife) Recovery plan for fire-hit moorland A MAJOR recovery project to restore moorland areas around Horwich has been unveiled. The West Pennine Moors Land- scape Recovery Scheme will concen- trate on areas including Rivington Pike and Winter Hill. Parts of the moors have been badly affected by wildfires in recent years. A blaze onWinter Hill in 2018 destroyed an area the size of around 2,500 football pitches. It tookmore than 100 firefighters, supported by soldiers and volunteers, to get it under control. Now Lancashire Wildlife Trust along with United Utilities and a host of other partners have come together to develop a Landscape Recovery Scheme. Its aim is to rejuvenate almost 27 square miles of the landscape. The trust says the aim to “allow nature to flourishwhilst supporting the peo- ple who live, work, farm and visit the area”. A new short filmhas been created to help people know what’s going on, featuring staff from the Wildlife Trust and United Utilities, along with a local farmer, artist and walker. The film aims to show people why the West Pennine Moors are so special, the challenges they face, and hopes to inspire people to get involved and support the Landscape Recovery Scheme. Nabil Abbas, West PennineMoors project manager at LancashireWild- life Trust, said: “The West Pennine Moors Landscape Recovery Scheme aims to bring together stakehold- ers including government agencies, charities, farmers, landowners, residents and visitors to develop a long-term plan for how to care for this amazing place. “Over the years numerous pressures on the landscape have combined to threaten the natural habitats and species which live there. “However, by working in partner- ship and developing landscape-scale proposals, the Landscape Recovery Scheme aims to restore and reju- venate the landscape so that it can provide us with a series of ecosystem service benefits: more wildlife, clean drinking water, carbon storage, sus- tainable farming businesses, and a place where people can spend time enjoying the great outdoors and improving health and wellbeing.” Andy Ryding, United Utilities catchment partnership project officer, added: “The Landscape Recovery scheme is a vital partner- ship that brings together so many key stakeholders to work together, to better enhance the natural envi- ronment, to support our farming tenancies and benefit our surround- ing communities. “For our part, improving the catchment land around our reser- voirs not only helps improve the bio- diversity of the area, but crucially improves raw water quality which reduces treatment costs for our val- ued customers.” The scheme is currently in its development phase, with work underway to map and understand the many different habitats, land uses and challenges in theWest Pen- nine Moors, before developing plans to rejuvenate the area. The trust spokesperson said: “With such a variety of habitats and land uses there cannot be a one-size- fits-all approach, and so engaging with key stakeholders and local com- munities will be vital to create an appropriate and realistic vision for the landscape. “A series of public events and activities will be held over the spring and summer to give people the opportunity to learnmore about the project and have their say on what the landscape means to them.” For more information about the project visit lancswt.org.uk/ west-pennine-moors. • 7,000 hectares (27 squaremiles) will be rejuvenated •The area contains 34 per cent of Lancashire’s blanket bog • It is home to 185 priority species of local concern for conservation and is noted for key isolated populations of twite, brown hare and adder •The area covers a substantial part of theWest PennineMoors Site of Special Scientific Interest • Onemillion people live in and around theWest PennineMoors View the filmat: https://youtu.be/ GPpX9h_79Tg THE LOCAL LANDSCAPE (Photo credit: Alex Hubberstey) (Photo credit: Rich Burkmarr)