What was once the saddest fish in Wythenshawe Park, overlooking a dried-up pond and largely redundant dipping platform, now has a smile on its face thanks to a partnership project between The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside, Manchester Parks and The Cardinal Partnership.

£40,000 funded a programme of wetland re-naturalisation works in the Nan Nook Woodland area of Wythenshawe Park, a Grade B Site of Biological Importance. These included: 

• A network of ditches that had previously been artificially straightened were re-wiggled, slowing the flow of water through the area to help restore the natural wetland habitat.
• 10 leaky dams were installed, again working to slow the flow of water through the wetland system, providing natural flood mitigation.
• 7 pond features were reprofiled, this included digging out areas where they had become silted up over time and creating vital areas of open water.
• Overgrown trees were felled to allow light to naturally filter down to the ponds and woodland floor encouraging native aquatic, wetland and woodland species to thrive.
• c. 1,000 native woodland and wetland plant species were introduced to help recreate a natural ecosystem and support biodiversity and species richness. 

Overall restoration works were delivered over five hectares of wetland habitat in the park, meaning that the area now has the capacity to retain or otherwise influence around 1,800m³of groundwater, delivering meaningful benefits for the local landscape and wider catchment. The area is now able to fulfil its full ecological function. 

William Eastwood, Wythenshawe Park Manager, said: “The work at Nan Nook Wood has been transformational. It provides a great example of how we can improve wetland habitats in other woodlands across the city.”

How does wetland restoration help people? 

The Wythenshawe Park wetland restoration project obviously has clear benefits for both biodiversity and natural flood management in Wythenshawe Park, but people were also at the heart of the project.  

A new interpretation board has been installed next to the dipping platform providing easy to access information about the species that can now be found in the area, and the importance of wetland areas for wildlife. This type of user-friendly accessible information is wonderfully effective when communicating with a wide range of park users and helping to encourage a love of the natural world. Simply stopping, reading the board, and taking a moment to look around you, can provide an instant wellbeing boost, and can help encourage people to take further actions for nature in their day to day lives. 

Now that the pond is full of water and life again, pond dipping sessions are planned with members of the local community through our Championing Nature project that is based in Wythenshawe. Championing Nature aims to restore both nature and people’s connection to it, creating a lasting legacy of love, responsibility and ownership of the nature that is on the doorstep.

How businesses can have a positive effect on nature 

This project has provided an exemplar of how businesses can create a real and lasting effect on nature, both on their doorstep and beyond. The Cardinal Partnership approached The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside as a local and trusted provider of nature restoration that creates long term impact for both people and our environment. 

Tiernan O'Ceallaigh, Sustainability Officer at The Cardinal Partnership, commented: “At The Cardinal Partnership, we want to go a step further than just reducing our impact. By restoring this wetland ecosystem, we have already seen benefits for nature and the local community that will last well into the future.”  

The Cardinal Partnership team also joined our conservation officers for a hands-on planting day, planting hundreds of the native plant species that were required to help restore the ecosystem.