The Challenge
We want to achieve a measurable improvement in our natural environment and create a vibrant, healthy landscapes featuring more and better-quality greenspaces that work harder to keep us cool, help us to become more flood resilient as well as making a home for nature and looking great all at the same time!
However, our natural environment has been long undervalued and suffered from underinvestment. We have taken the benefits it provides us with for granted. To start to turn the tide, we are working smarter with our partners to realise opportunities and develop new funding streams to invest in our natural environment, which increases the benefits we get and puts a financial value on it. We are joining forces to tell you about this, hoping to influence climate and nature positive behaviour and ensure we are all better connected to the place we call home.
If each one of us made a small change it would make a big difference!
What we need to do
- We need to manage our land sustainably, this includes planting a tree for every citizen of Greater Manchester and restoring our peatlands.
- We need to better manage our water and its environment to improve the quality for the natural life that lives in and near to it.
- We want to achieve a net gain in biodiversity for new developments, meaning we want developers to avoid, minimise and compensate for loss of habitats for nature lost during building work.
- We want to increase investment into our natural environment by putting a value on the benefits that it delivers.
- Most of all, we want you to be part of our plans by volunteering and doing your bit where you can for our natural environment.
What are we doing?
Over the last few years, we have been working closely with many local and national partners on a range of projects. We were selected as a Government Urban Pioneer, feeding into the national 25 Year Environment Plan with our learning; we have launched a natural environment toolkit which promotes a series of positive actions for citizens and businesses which support the region’s climate ambitions; we have successfully been awarded EU funding and are delivering on projects which target improvements in the quality of our waterways, and seek to improve the resilience of our towns and cities with natural green solutions to keeping cool and flooding.
This year we were selected by the Government to develop a local nature recovery strategy. This will set out our vision and priorities and the practical actions needed to restore declining species and habitats to their former glory. The plan will help us put funding and partnership work where it is needed most.
When it comes to nature, we want more, bigger, better and joined up greenspaces, we hope you agree!
How you can help
For residents:
- Get involved and volunteer in local projects that protect and improve the natural environment and your health and wellbeing.
- Make your garden, balcony or backyard a nature and climate friendly space
For businesses:
- Partner with and support local projects that are working to protect and improve the natural environment.
- Make your premises and buildings nature and climate friendly spaces.