The Mersey has cropped up a few times on these posts, most recently linked to an invitation to an event at Liverpool University.
People in Liverpool are passionate about their city and its iconic river setting – the Mersey frames one of the most distinctive city skylines in the world. So it didn’t come as a surprise that over 150 people turned up (and if you were one of them, then thanks for spending your evening with us).
The river has undergone an environmental revolution over the last three decades – once dubbed the most polluted river in Europe, it was almost unimaginable, in those dark days, that the running sewer that was the Mersey would be regarded as a valuable environment. In the 1980s, the reaction to the news that the river was of international importance for bird conservation was greeted, frankly, with complete disbelief.
The legacy of the first proposals to build a tidal power-generating barrage across the Mersey a generation ago was to propel the importance of the Mersey’s natural environment to the centre of the stage. Though that proposal collapsed under the weight of its economics and predictions of its environmental impact – the knowledge that the Mersey was special continued. It received due recognition in the form of its designation as a Special Protection Area and it heralded a period of cooperation amongst the local authorities and key organisations around the estuary that gave the wildlife of the Mersey a much more secure future with estuary at last recognised as an important natural resource.
So it feels slightly back to the future as the audience in Liverpool heard about the range of waterfowl and wading birds that depend on the food rich mud of the Mersey to survive the winter. Tim Melling – the RSPB’s Senior Conservation Officer for the North of England described their global journeys and stressed the importance of the Mersey as a service station on their annual migration – did you know that each square meter of mud contains as much food energy as 16 Mars bars? That can really make them work, rest and play!
Peter Robertson – our Director for the North of England set out today’s challenge – how to reconcile the need to harness the power of the sea to provide clean, green renewable energy without sacrificing some of our most important natural environment. Hanging over this debate is the spectre of Mersey barrage. It’s back – a massive engineering project that would certainly produce energy – but at a massive environmental cost.
Despite a clear lesson from history here on the Mersey and from other similar projects on the Severn and elsewhere – the big bad barrage is a still attracting attention and diverting effort from the search for solutions that can harness the tide without the far-reaching consequences of the damning the river.
My colleagues were delighted at the debate their presentations sparked on the evening – and that more than 40 people volunteered to help spread the word and help us make sure that there is an effective voice for the birds and wildlife for whom the Mersey is home –to be a real Voice for Nature.
There’s a lot to do to make sure this debate genuinely looks at sustainable options and a lot to do to bring this conversation out into the wider community – to the people for whom the Mersey is a treasured part of their environment.
If you are reading this on Merseyside and fancy finding out more do contact my colleague Andy Bunten andy.bunten@rspb.org.uk. Otherwise, do let us know your views.
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