Nature recovery along the Kingfisher Trail in Bolton

The Kingfisher Trail (& the valley it runs along) provides a critically important wildlife corridor through a heavily urban area and a link between the upland habitats of the West Pennine Moors Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) through to Manchester City Centre.  Our project focuses on the Bolton section of the Trail which contains 13 Sites of Biological Importance, 4 Local Nature Reserves and the aforementioned SSSI. Many habitats and species listed in the Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) for Greater Manchester and the UK breed or forage on and around these sites, including various bat species, great crested newt and willow tit.  The Kingfisher Trail also provides vital greenspaces to numerous communities living in Bolton, Salford and Bury, providing a countryside experience to these urban communities, many of which have been hit the hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.

Whilst the Kingfisher Trail retains vital habitats for key BAP species, the quality of these has greatly deteriorated over the last 15 years due to limited work at sites along its route.  The strategic location of the Trail in Greater Manchester’s Nature Recovery Network requires a programme of sustained practical action to recover nature along the Trail and prevent further habitat degradation and species loss. Improving the Trail’s ecological value and connectivity will enable species to migrate between urban areas and the adjacent countryside and thereby enhance their populations and resilience.  Without this project the sites along the Trail will continue to decline in quality and adversely impact on their value from a community, environmental and economic perspective.

During 2021, we mobilised 106 community volunteers to kick start recovery of nature on discrete sites along the Trail.  We have been able to plant native wildflowers at 5 sites, clear approximately 2Ha of Himalayan balsam and carry out grassland surveys at 8 sites leading to new management actions to improve habitats.   

This pilot project has evidenced the opportunity to support, facilitate and empower local communities to deliver practical interventions to recover nature along the entire length of the Trail. We propose to develop and deliver a three year strategy and action plan to guide and support partners based along and around the Kingfisher Trail, which will help to grow more active leadership by the local community and secure the Trail’s long term future.  

Our project will cost approximately £196,500 over 3 years and deliver the following outcomes:  

• Habitat enhancement including key woodland (70Ha), grassland (10Ha) and wetland (0.1Ha) sites along and adjacent to the Kingfisher Trail through activities such as invasive species control, tree thinning, scrub removal, hedgelaying etc; 

• 20,000 native wildflowers grown and planted on at least 10 sites along or around the Trail; 

• 300 volunteers will be recruited, trained and supported to deliver 250 days of practical management tasks and undertake ecological surveys; 

• 30 young adults (targeted at unemployed and people suffering from social isolation) will receive training in ecological surveying and applicable practical conservation skills; 

• 1,000 new species records from annual habitat surveys resulting from our citizen science work.  These records will guide and influence management to improve biodiversity;  

• 1,000 people from across Greater Manchester, mostly adults and young children, engaged in exciting, high quality and covid secure events all set within the sites of the Kingfisher Trail and to increase their awareness, appreciation and involvement with their local green spaces. 

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