The Ribble Estuary holds a special place in the history of nature conservation. In the late 1970s the whole estuary and its teaming flocks of birds was under real and imminent threat of development and more or less total loss. This was at a time when the conservation movement was small and losing more battles than it was winning. A time when around one in ten (12% to be precise) of our best wildlife sites (Sites of Special Scientific Interest) were being damaged each year.
The Ribble was a watershed – purchasing it was way beyond the resources of the RSPB or the conservation movement at the time – its last hope was Government intervention. Just over the horizon was new European legislation in the form of the Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds – and this coupled with campaigning pressure led to the Ribble being saved for the nation as a National Nature Reserve through compulsory purchase.
The Ribble is an impressive estuary providing a winter home to around a quarter of a million birds – if you’ve ever wondered how we know just how many birds are present on our estuaries – here’s yesterday’s blog about the Wetland Bird Survey.
I first got to know the Ribble in the 1980s, we were fighting proposals to build houses on chunk of the estuary bitten off by a road. That chunk was saved and became RSPB Marshside Nature reserve (do plan a visit soon as it will be stuffed full of wildfowl and waders, a real spectacle) – but I’d like to cross over to the north of the Estuary to a project dear to my heart – the Ribble Discovery Centre.
This project run by us in partnership with Fylde Borough Council and United Utilities is coming up to it’s 20th anniversary and has been connecting young people (and a lot of grown ups too) to the Ribble and it’s wildlife. Last year over 2,500 youngsters visited the centre - here's more on that story.
It wasn’t quite like that when we started.
Back then the mood was one of seeing the Ribble, its birds and protective designation as a block on development ideas and little else. As a result, Fylde Borough Council was objecting to the proposed designation of the estuary as a Special Protection Area (the top draw designation for Europe’s best wildlife sites).
I felt the mood very keenly when giving a presentation to councillors as part of our coastal campaign ‘Turning the Tide’. One thing we ended up agreeing upon was that the importance of the Ribble as a world class wildlife wetland was little known. And we also agreed it would be worthwhile to set up an education programme – and we could have a boat house to do it in.
Over to us.
Never one to dodge a challenge and with a shoestring budget our Education Officer, Barrie Cooper was set to the task of setting up our inaugural field teaching project. In the first season the schools came, children got muddy and we launched the project with a group of councillors who were warming to the idea that ‘their’ estuary was indeed quite special.
We expanded – extended our ambition to families and tourists visiting Lytham and St Annes, our colleague David Spivack helped find volunteers and gather material for the centre and launched our new season (Barrie even secured Linda Nolan to join one of our launch events). We built the profile of the centre, attracted the interest and support of the local MP, Michael Jack and, through him the involvement of United Utilities. With our partner’s growing support the Ribble Discovery Centre grew into the important project it is today a key project in the Ribble Coast and Wetlands landscape.
And what was the impact? Early on it became clear that the attitudes to the Ribble were changing – Fylde Borough Council willing withdrew their objection to the designation of the estuary as a Special Protection Area, our partnership grew from strength to strength, Barrie took the lessons learned on the Ribble into his international work promoting environmental education across the BirdLife International partnership and beyond (here’s a recent example).
And – central to it all – the chance to connect thousands of children with their natural world. Last week we joined the National Trust in the Natural Childhood partnership an initiative that will find a welcome on the Lancashire coast.
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