Official opening of RSPB Hesketh Out Marsh

ON Friday, 9 October 2009, the RSPB officially opened Hesketh Out Marsh to bird watches. With the Euro Fighter flying above, as an impromptu flypast, Ian Darling chairman of RSPB's council; Andy Brown, deputy chairman of the Environment Agency and Liz Newton, Natural England's director for the Northwest region, gathered with other local and national representatives to open the new reserve. The reserve is made up of over 150 hectares of reclaimed saltmarsh, a grassland habitat, which floods at the highest tides. It will offer valuable new habitat for thousands of breeding, wintering and migratory birds, as well as playing an important role in flood protection. Hesketh Out Marsh was originally part of the saltmarsh of the Ribble Estuary but was transformed into agricultural land nearly 30 years ago after being enclosed by a private outer sea embankment. For the past four years, the RSPB has been working with the Environment Agency to return a large part of the site to saltmarsh. This project has also been supported by Lancaster City Council, the Lancashire Rural Recovery Action Plan, Natural England, Biffa Award and The Banister Charitable Trust. To find out more about it and for a detailed maps and directions on the RSPB website:- rspb.org.uk/heskethoutmarsh.