Welcome supporters to our first newsletter back after a short summer break! We hope you enjoyed your summer and have started the new school year well. Plenty to update you about with our activities over the summer below and what’s coming up this autumn, including:
- An update from our Chair
- Review of our August Family Event on the Moss
- Species of the month: Red Peatmoss
- Read our Blog: Surveying species on Danes Moss
- Upcoming events & activities
Update from our Chair at Danes Moss Trust
Summer has been and gone and we’ve been thinking deeply about the future of Danes Moss. Autumn now seems to be arriving and in early September our trustees and advisors met for a strategy day to share our thoughts on the future of the Moss.
One thing we are trying to achieve is recognition of Danes Moss North (the part next to Moss Lane) as an ‘Asset of Community Value’. It’s a long process but we hope that Cheshire East Council will officially recognise the immense value of this place. If we achieve this, it means that if the Council wanted to sell their land on Danes Moss, then we would have six months to raise the money to bid for it. We will keep you updated.
Do you remember those newspaper headlines that people on social media took to mean that Danes Moss had been ‘saved’? Well… it was never that simple! We are waiting for Cheshire East Council to begin their review into the future of Danes Moss North. We have been promised that we will be part of that review. We will update you when we have more news on this.
As ever, thank you for your support, your time and your dedication to Danes Moss.
(Feature picture is a lovely Ruddy Darter seen on the Moss this year.)
Discovering the Wildlife of Danes Moss North: our August Family Event
We may have had to rearrange our original date due to the rain but when we got there on 17 August supporters of all ages had lots of fun at our first family event on the Moss. Our fabulous volunteers helped children and adults learn sweep netting and tree beating techniques and helped with insect identification. Here is our Facebook post from the day with more pictures.
We were thrilled to be joined by David Edwardes, Mayor of Cheshire East, who enjoyed the popular activity of dissecting owl pellets!! Thank-you to everyone who came to support, gave us your feedback and volunteers for helping out. Watch out our for future events where you can learn more about Danes Moss and its biodiversity.
Species of the Month: Red Peatmoss
Red Peatmoss (Sphagnum rubellum) is one of the eight different Sphagnum moss species found on Danes Moss so far. Currently they only exist on the south of the moss in the Cheshire Wildlife Trust/SSSI area but they could be reintroduced to Dane Moss North as part of a program of restoration in the future.
Sphagnum mosses are ecosystem engineers that create the special acid conditions that make peatland so different and special. As they die and get pickled in the acid conditions they also form peat. Peatlands are really important globally, they only cover 3% of the worlds land surface but hold an amazing 40% of the carbon. This is why Danes Moss is so important – we need to keep that carbon locked into the ground and help it sequester even more from the atmosphere.
Read our latest Blog: Surveying Species on the Moss
To celebrate the number of observations on the Danes Moss Nature Reserve reaching over 10,000 recorded entries we’re exploring why observing and recording species is important and how we want to encourage more people to get involved in this “citizen science” activity. Check out the blog here…
Coming soon…..
As well as organising for all the great events coming up the team have already been busy thinking ahead to Christmas. We’re excited about this year’s Christmas cards and will be sharing more details soon!
Events & activities coming up in the next month!
September and October are busy months for the team, with Congleton Green Fayre on Saturday 27th September, the Treacle Market on Sunday 28th September and Macclesfield’s Nature Needs You on Saturday 4th October already done. Hear about what we are up to and as ever try out our ever popular nature-related children’s activities.
- Sunday 26th October, 10-15.30 our monthly stall at Treacle Market in St Michael’s Churchyard. Come join us for a chat, free children’s activities and glitter tattoos.
Volunteering
If you’re interested in helping us out we do have a number of activities that we need more help with. Volunteers to support us at our events are always welcome and there are other roles. If you are interested just drop us an email: info@savedanesmoss.com
