The Manchester branch of the RSPB have announced a fundraising campaign to help support the restoration of bird habitats destroyed by the recent wildfires around Dovestone Reservoir.

With the landscape still smouldering, estimated damage to the nearby countryside includes a swathe of nearly 1,000 hectares of moorland and peat bogs which are home to wide variety of bird species. Added to that, July is traditionally a month when many ground nesting birds – including Curlews, Golden Plovers and Dunlins – are looking to lay eggs and raise chicks in areas like Dovestone, and many of these habitats have been completely destroyed.

In addition to the immediate impact of the wildfires, the RSPB is also concerned about the potential long-term damage to the moorland, and the threat to future generations of birds this will cause.

In response, the RSPB have organised a series of sponsored GM Ringway walks every Saturday and Sunday in August. Taking in all the stages of the GM Ringway trail, each walk will help to raise funds for recovery work on the moorland surrounding Dovestone which has been affected by the wildfires.

Anyone can sign-up to take part in one (or more) of the walks by visiting RSPB Manchester’s Eventbrite page here, while sponsorship money in aid of their Dovestone recovery work can be donated via a dedicated Just Giving page here.

You can also read more about RSPB Manchester’s Dovestone fundraising campaign here.