About ECOnet

A long-term vision for Cheshire

The vision of the Cheshire ECOnet is to provide environmental, social and economic benefits for the people of Cheshire through the creation and enhancement of an interconnected network of existing and new areas of nature . By 2020 the present scattering of small islands of wild places will be expanded and linked by the creation of new habitats. Animals such as the otter, dormouse and barn owl will move freely across the landscape.

The Life ECOnet Project

The Life ECOnet Project (1999 – 2003) has been the latest phase towards realising this vision. With the support of the LIFE Environment Programme of the European Commission, partners from Cheshire and two regions of Italy (Abruzzo and Emilia-Romagna) explored with local people how to connect areas for wildlife and demonstrate the use of these networks to make land use planning more sustainable. Partners from Gelderland (Netherlands), who are pioneers in developing ecological networks, advised the project.

The Life ECOnet Project partnership

Life ECOnet demonstrated many of the key issues at the core of European and UK environmental policy:

Informing		using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and landscape ecology principles to define ecological networks, and then using this geographic information to inform land use decision-making in interesting and stimulating ways that can be easily understood
Involving		involving local people to listen to their views, and gain their support, commitment and participation towards ecology and land use change
Inspiring		utilising all forms of media to raise awareness and understanding of the concept of ecological networks and the Life ECOnet Project
Integrating		demonstrating how ecological networks can be integrated into land management practices (for example, farming, quarry restoration, derelict land regeneration, road design)
Influencing		assessing land use policies and integrating the ecological network approach into all relevant policy sectors

More information can be found on the project website at www.lifeECOnet.com

Turning the vision into reality

The Life ECOnet Project has established:

• A strategic and long-term vision for the delivery of nature conservation in Cheshire
• Political and social acceptance for the concept of expanded and linked areas for wildlife, ie, ecological networks
• A framework for land use and biodiversity planning
• A focus for targeting existing funds and initiatives
• Co-ordinated and joined-up working amongst agencies

Effort and emphasis is now focusing on working with landowners and farmers, communities and rural and land use agencies to create the network of habitats on the ground.

From islands to networks

Across Europe, increasing demands on land for agriculture, housing and transport over the last fifty years have changed many landscapes. Consequently wildlife habitats became too small and isolated to survive, and many plants and animals are under threat. Past wildlife conservation has focused on key sites, of which many have become protected areas. It is now recognised that this approach is insufficient to ensure the survival of valued habitats and species, many of which utilise the wider landscape outside protected areas for foraging and reproduction.

The ecological challenge: Habitat reduction, fragmentation
and isolation, and barriers to the movement of species

Since the 1970s an alternative approach has emerged, not only to protect important wildlife sites, but also to enlarge them through the restoration of habitats, and to link them through the creation of corridors and stepping stones for the movement of species. The concept of "ecological networks" is implicit in European policies such as the EU Habitats Directive and the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy.

The ECOnet Toolkit

The ecological network for Cheshire will be constructed by a wide range of people working together to a common framework. Parts of it are already in place, for example, as protected areas. Elsewhere the ECOnet can be incorporated in existing rural and urban land use initiatives including conservation, agri-environment and forestry grant schemes. Opportunities for the creation of new habitats also exist through "green generators" such as quarries, land regeneration schemes and landfill sites.

The ECOnet approach is founded on two guiding principles:

• That habitat expansion and restoration is ecologically informed and targeted to give greatest effect, and
• That it is relevant to people’s lives and has the support and involvement of local communities, authorities and agencies

Both of these principles need to be met to achieve real change on the ground.

This first phase of the ECOnet toolkit begins to provide the ecological know how by setting out the framework for the delivery of the ecological network. It builds on the following four major areas of work:

Cheshire County Council		Defining Core Areas for Wildlife using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) spatial analysis techniques of priority habitats, wildlife improvement areas and buffer zones.
The University of Lancaster		Development of a database and potential vegetation map of Cheshire based on the UK's National Vegetation Classification (NVC).
Alterra		Analysis of the Cheshire landscape using the ecological model LARCH on 15 animal species in five different key habitats within the county.
Alterra		Development of a scenario for an ecological network in Cheshire, with recommendations for its design.

Some of the information is of a technical nature, but the website includes contacts who can offer advice and help develop your ideas.

Further information will be added to the toolkit at a later date.

We would be very pleased to hear how you think the ECOnet toolkit could be improved and developed to meet your needs. Our email and postal addresses are available in the Contact Us section, or you can complete the Feedback Form and send it to us online.

The Life ECOnet Project was a Cheshire County Council led partnership supported by the European Commission LIFE Environment programme. Other UK partners included: