CIWEM Sustainable Wetland of the Year Award

Overview

UK projects that are either work-in-progress or complete are eligible.

To be eligible for the Award, projects must:

• contribute to the delivery of priority UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) species and habitat targets for wetlands
• demonstrate sustainability and delivery of multiple benefits e.g. flood alleviation, wastewater treatment, recreation, eco-tourism, water resource security
• ensure no priority BAP species or habitats are harmed by the project

In addition, it is desirable that projects:

• contribute to increases in numbers of breeding wading birds (e.g. redshank, snipe, lapwing) and/or other threatened wetland species
• contribute to the restoration of floodplain functions
• include a programme for education or promotion/dissemination of the work
• constitute a new area of work for the entrant, or add value beyond the normal remit of the organisation

To be eligible for the Award, projects must meet all of the essential entry criteria. Entries are scored out of five against each of the essential entry criteria and out of three against each of the other desirable criteria. The maximum possible score is thus thirty points.

Where possible, entrants should provide numerical records of BAP species seen on site and, if available, comparative data showing how numbers of BAP species have increased since the start of the project. This information will be considered along with other factors such as the size of the project and location.

The prize consists of the Mance Memorial Trophy (a specially-commissioned bronze trophy of a snipe), publicity for the winning scheme, a framed certificate and a cheque for £1,500, which should be used to fund the delivery of further UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) targets, publicity of the project and/or related education. The Award will be announced and presented at the CIWEM Annual Dinner in 2013.

Previous Winners

• 2012: The CIWEM Living Wetlands Award winner for 2012 was Brockholes Nature Reserve, in Lancashire. Brockholes is a 106-hectare site made up of former gravel workings located in Central Lancashire within reach of the city of Preston, in an area of high social depravation. Since the site's purchase in December 2006 by The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside, the reserve has managed to proactively protect some key UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) habitats and species. Brockholes nature reserve is very much at the leading edge of the widely accepted need to bring wildlife and people together in a way that meets long term targets in sustainability.
• 2011: The CIWEM Living Wetlands Award winner for 2011 was Beam Parklands, a new 53 hectare multifunctional wetland park in east London. The site is located amidst the industrial and residential legacy of the Ford works, in one of the most deprived parts of the country. A key objective has been the creation of diverse habitats that support the wealth of species known to be at the site, including water voles, great crested newts and wetland birds.
• 2010: The winner of CIWEM's prestigious Living Wetlands Award 2010 was 'The Itchen Navigation Heritage Trail Project', managed by the Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust (HIWWT). The project involved repairing and enhancing the Navigation-part of a chalk river system that stretches for ten miles from Winchester to Southampton.
• 2009: The 2009 Winner was the STREAM Project by Natural England with partners Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, Environment Agency, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and Wessex Water. The project is a £1 million four-year conservation project centred on the River Avon and the Avon Valley in Wiltshire and Hampshire.
• 2008: The 2008 winner was the The Moray Council with their entry 'The Wards Wetlands Wildlife Site' an urban wetland site situated in the city of Elgin in Morayshire.
• 2007: The winner of the 2007 Living Wetlands Award was Sutcliffe Park - Quaggy River Flood Risk Management Scheme submitted by the Environment Agency.
• 2006: The 2006 winner was The Little Ouse Headwaters Project a community based charity with the aim of restoring wildlife habitat along the headwater of the Little Ouse.
• The 2006 winner of the Small Living Wetlands Award is Yorkshire Water for their entry Scrayingham Ecological Wastewater Treatment System.
• 2005: The winner in 2005 was Essex Wildlife Trust's Abbotts Hall Farm coastal realignment scheme on the Blackwater Estuary.
• 2004: The 2004 Award was won by Aston Hall Farm, a working farm at Stone in Staffordshire, with a scheme that transformed a 300-acre site into a floodplain grazing marsh. The project was submitted by a partnership of organisations led by Severn Trent Water.