 |
  | ||||||
 Home
Coastal
Heritage Coastlines
Magazine Nature and
Wildlife Research Sefton Coast
Partnership Shoreline
Management Students and
Teachers Visiting the Coast
| |||||||
|
Sefton Coast Forum 2006The seventh Annual SCP Forum took place on the 11th February 2006 at the Floral Hall in Southport. Following the success of last year's full day event the 2006 Forum was again programmed for a full day, and due to demand was moved to the larger venue. Unfortunately the Mayor of Sefton was taken ill and was unable to open this year's forum. Ted Jackson, Chair of the Sefton Coast Partnership, took the reins and opened the forum. His first duty was to present this year's Special Volunteer Award to Gordon Roberts in recognition of his outstanding contribution, over many years towards the archaeology of the Sefton Coast. Gordon's work on the neolithic footprints on the shore around Formby Point stretches back to 1989 when he came across them whilst walking his dog. Since then he has featured on both television and radio, and he has lectured as far away as Korea on this subject. As well as his work on the footprints, Gordon is an active volunteer for both the National Trust and Sefton Coast and Countryside Service. To find out more about the footprints visit the history section and the Coastlines section.
The morning session comprised of a series of informative presentations. The first, presented by Anne Selby, Chief Executive The Wildlife Trust (Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside), was a keynote address on the importance of nature conservation and the value it can add to individuals and the community. This was followed by a presentation on the 'History of Nature Conservation on the Sefton Coast' by Dr Phil Smith. Phil highlighted the early recognition of the value of the Sefton Coast for the wildlife that it supported and several of the species to be found there. The talk followed the progression of nature conservation to the present day where the majority of the coast is designated under national and european law. Next the Partnership's Annual Report was presented by Ceri Jones, Sefton Council. This included a review of the activities on the Sefton Coast and the work of the Partnership during the previous year. Also highlighted was the review of the Sefton Coast Management Plan which is available for consultation until 24th March 2006. A draft Nature Conservation Strategy issues paper was presented by John Houston, Sefton Council, who identified the main points of the strategy. The issues paper is currently out for consultation until 31st March 2006. Details of how to comment can be found within the consultation section on this website. The last speaker of the morning was by Graham Lymbery, Sefton Council, who presented 'Climate Change and Geomorphology'. The concepts of climate change and geomorphology were introduced and their importance to each other. The talk looked at the potential impacts of climate change on the Sefton Coast focusing in on salt marshes, sand dunes and sea walls. The presentation highlighted the need to take climate change predictions into account and incorporate into management plans.
Only one person took up the opportunity of a soap-box session and that was John Ashworth. He gave an interesting talk about his perceptions of the impact of predatory animals such as foxes and magpies on the other wildlife found in the dunes. John related his experience of the dunes from the 1940's contrasting the abundance of sand lizards and natterjack toads found then to the reduced number found now and suggested that there may be a relationship between this decline and the increase in foxes and magpies that he perceives to have occurred over the same period. In the afternoon session there were two sets of parallel sessions where delegates were able to discuss the various aspects of nature conservation. The first set of these sessions covered the Forest Plan, Birds, Plants and Herptiles. Whilst the second session looked at Red Squirrels, Invertebrates, 'Nature outside of nature reserves' and 'Climate change and the visitor economy'.
The afternoon finished with an open drop in session where members of the public were invited to view the displays and discuss any further issues. A great deal of issues were covered during the day and the overall response from those who attended was that it had been a worthwhile event. The free all day event, including buffet lunch, was mainly funded through Sefton Council.
|
|
Over an informal buffet lunch delegates had the opportunity to
look at displays, chat to the speakers and network with each other.
