Environmental Quality
To live within environmental limits, we need to respect the
limits of the planet’s environment, resources and biodiversity. We
need to improve our environment and make sure that the natural
resources needed for life are available to future generations. We
also need to make the Northwest an appealing place for businesses
to increase inward
investment.
We need to consider the region’s ecosystem - how we interact
with our environment - to minimise the damage we cause to our
planet and find alternatives to
non-renewable resources, and to consume and produce
sustainably, to preserve them for future
generations.
As well as air, soil and fresh water, important elements of our
ecosystem include living resources such as biodiversity. It also
includes: the natural environment and green infrastructure; the
regeneration of brownfield sites; and sustainable agriculture.
The quality of our natural resources is important to our health
and wellbeing - important elements of sustainable communities.
The NWDA actively promotes natural resource protection through a
number of projects and programmes:
Protecting Our Ecosystem
The NWDA’s approach to protecting the region’s ecosystem is
based on the Government’s vision for the natural environment as set
out in its
Public Service Agreement.
The Public Service Agreement states that the following issues
should be considered at a strategic and policy-making level
to:
- Ensure the air we breathe is free from harmful levels of
pollutants
- Use water sustainably in a way that balances water quality,
environment, supply and demand
- Use land and manage soil sustainably
- Value, safeguard and enhance biodiversity
- Ensure our living landscapes are conserved
- Educate people so they understand and care for the natural
environment
To support the Public Service Agreement, DEFRA has produced an
Action Plan for Embedding an Ecosystems
Approach, which offers a strategic approach to natural
environment policy-making and delivery. Government-funded
organisations such as the NWDA are committed to delivering this
Action Plan.
Biodiversity
The Regional Economic
Strategy defines biodiversity as the variety of life
on Earth and the natural patterns it forms. It forms the web of
life of which we are an integral part and upon which we so fully
depend.
The importance of biodiversity was laid out in DEFRA’s
Biodiversity Strategy for England. This
strategy document was one of the foundations for its Ecosystem
Action Plan.
The strategy focuses on: the role of sustainable
agriculture in conserving and enhancing biodiversity;
a comprehensive approach to the sustainable use for water and
wetlands; enhancing biodiversity thought extending and managing
woodland; the sustainable use and management of our coasts;
biodiversity as a fundamental part of policy on sustainable communities,
urban green
space and the built
environment.
Natural Environment & Green Infrastructure
The NWDA’s role is to maintain and enhance the natural
environment by focusing on the region’s natural economy. The aim,
as set out in the Regional Economic
Strategy, is to develop the natural environment in a
sensitive and sustainable way.
The Northwest’s network of natural environment spaces - from
rivers and moorland to parks and tree-lined streets - are its green
infrastructure.
Well-managed green infrastructure can, for example, potentially
cut the massive costs of flooding, such as floods that hit Carlisle
in 2005, which led to the deaths of three people. This can be
achieved through the protection of water and wetland habitats and
grasslands and sustainable urban drainage systems. Green
infrastructure can also alleviate the effects of climate change and
pollution.
The NWDA took part in the Natural Economy
Northwest programme, promoted the environment as a key
economic resource and support natural environment projects. Natural
Economy Northwest provided: leadership on priorities and promotion
at the regional and sub-regional level; and providing research as
an evidence
base for the natural economy.
Through Natural Economy Northwest, the NWDA produced The
Economic Value of Green Infrastructure to promote investing in
green infrastructure in the Northwest.
Land Regeneration
One way to increase the region’s green infrastructure is to
regenerate brownfield land and create new strategic green spaces.
The aim of the NWDA is to regenerate land in a sensitive and
sustainable way, as set out in the Regional
Economic Strategy.
Regenerating land improves the quality of life of residents,
whilst making the region more appealing to investors; resulting in
the three-fold effect of improving the environmental, social and
economic well-being of the region.
New areas of strategic green space - which work towards
increasing and enhancing the green infrastructure in the Northwest
- will attract inward investment, create jobs and provide enhanced
facilities for communities.
The NWDA is involved in a number of land regeneration
programmes, including Newlands, REMADE in Lancashire and REVIVE in
Cheshire.
The NWDA launched its £59 million Newlands regeneration scheme
in 2003, in partnership with the Forestry Commission. The scheme is
regenerating over 900 hectares of brownfield land; reclaiming
derelict, underused and neglected land across the region and
turning it into thriving community woodlands.
The Agency has allocated up to £21.6 million to Lancashire’s
REMADE programme (REclamation and MAnagement of DErelict land). Led
by Lancashire County Council, the aim of the scheme is to reclaim
300 hectares of this derelict land by 2011.
REVIVE (Regenerating the EnVironment InVests in the Economy)
aims to bring 170 hectares of brownfield land back into beneficial
use to provide green infrastructure in the Cheshire and Warrington
sub-region. The NWDA is investing up to £17.5 million over the next
15 years to support projects such as Bewsey Tip in Warrington,
Chester to Mickle Trafford Greenway in Chester and Woolston New Cut
in Warrington.
Regenerating land improves the quality of life of those who
live, work and visit the region, and is a key element of developing
sustainable
communities.
Sustainable Agriculture
Despite extensive urban areas around Manchester and Liverpool,
the Northwest is still predominantly rural. Four fifths of its land
is agricultural, with over 40,000 people employed in the
agriculture sector.
The Food & Drink
sector is seeing new possibilities as interest grows
in local, regionally distinctive food and drink, as people in the
region begin to understand the impact food miles on the Northwest’s
carbon footprint. An increased interest in organic food has
resulted in a move towards more sustainable farming.
Businesses in the farming and food industry can become more
sustainable by getting involved in energy crop and anaerobic
digestion opportunities. These project are one of the ways the
Northwest is delivering rural
sustainability.
NWDA Representation
The NWDA has representation on the Mersey Basin Campaign Council
and the River Basin District Liaison Board.
The Mersey Basin Campaign Council provides strategic direction
and policy guidance to the Campaign in delivering its objectives of
improved river basin quality and waterside regeneration. One of its
most important responsibilities is to approve the Campaign’s annual
corporate plan.
The North West River Basin District covers an area of 13,140 sq
km from Cheshire in the South to the Lake District in the North.
The district faces many environmental challenges, with 25% of
England's derelict land and a third of the poorest quality rivers
in England and Wales. The Liaison Board helps the district active
involvement and stakeholder engagement.