AN AMBITIOUS 50-year plan to secure the future for some of the UK’s rarest wildlife habitats, incuding a Northwich forest, has been launched in the north west.

Delamere Forest is part of an internationally important Meres and Mosses area stretching from the edges of the Black Country and Telford to the Mersey and from the Potteries to the Welsh Marches.

This area has endured decades of habitat loss and a partnership of local authorities, public sector, charitable and voluntary bodies, called the Meres and Mosses Wetland Landscape Partnership, was brought together in 2008 to protect and restore the wetlands.

This partnership has now launched the action plan document ‘Into the Future: The Meres and Mosses Wetland Landscape Partnership Action Plan 2011 – 2016’, which frames the first five years of a long-term vision for the Meres and Mosses.

Charlotte Harris, director of conservation at Cheshire Wildlife Trust, one of the project partners, said: “We know from recent surveys and research that the Meres and Mosses have a crucial role to play in the long-term survival of species such as the water vole in Cheshire.

“In the 50 years since Cheshire Wildlife Trust was formed we’ve seen the loss of white-faced darter dragonflies from Delamere Forest – a scarce species that relies on the delicate and carefully balanced habitats found within the Meres and Mosses.

“This new strategy will hopefully see a reversal in fortunes for these creatures and perhaps the arrival of other wildlife not seen in the region for generations.”

The area is as ecologically important to Britain as the Norfolk Broads and the Lake District.

It is hoped the action plan could see the return of iconic species such as the crane, ‘booming’ bitterns and the white-faced darter dragonfly to parts of Cheshire.