The Manchester Mosslands Species Reintroduction

Once a huge part of the landscape, mossland has suffered a 97 per cent decline in the North West. What remains is fragmented and is missing key species; lost due to development, peat extraction and fragmentation. These species are unlikely to recolonise naturally. The species reintroduction centring on three isolated sites in the Manchester Mosslands SAC is on a landscape scale. The project will deliver sustainable reintroduction of key globally important species historically found on the mosslands, including plants and butterflies that are reliant on the habitat and are found nowhere else. Along with a programme of rewetting, the plant introductions provide a strong base from which species, like the Large Heath Butterfly, locally called the Manchester Argus, can be reintroduced. First discovered on Chat Moss it deserves its place back in Manchester.