A WETLAND creation project involving Bangor University staff and students has scooped a top accolade in a major environmental award ceremony.

The Chester Wetland Centre, which is the idea of Dr Christian Dunn, has been highly commended in the CIEEM Awards, for showing best practice in stakeholder engagement.

The project will see the creation of valuable wetland ecosystems on and around a popular country park on the outskirts of Chester.

Besides the biodiversity benefits of the wetland, the project will help remove pollution from a stream, and enable a range of community and educational benefits.

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Dr Dunn, who is a reader in the School of Natural Sciences at Bangor University, came up with the idea and then developed it with members of the Friends of the Countess of Chester Country Park, where the main wetland area is to be built.

The environmental consultancy firm, Binnies, were then commissioned by the Land Trust, who own the park, to undertake the feasibility study and outline design for the CWC, funded through the Environment Agency’s Water Environment Improvement Fund.

A number of Bangor University students have helped gather essential data for this study as part of their undergraduate and postgraduate research projects.

Dr Dunn said: “It’s fantastic to see the Chester Wetland Centre being recognised in this way by the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management.

“I’m really pleased the idea I had a couple of years ago has now built up such momentum and has so many brilliant organisations and people supporting it.

“Once it’s built we will have created a fabulous wetland habitat just next to the hospital in Chester for people to enjoy and wildlife to thrive in.

“The fact that Bangor University students have been instrumental in helping get the project this far shows just how great our students are and how good their research is.”

Besides the Land Trust, Friends of the Countess of Chester Country Park, Binnies and Bangor University other key partners in the project are the Environment Agency, Cheshire West and Chester Council, The Conservation Volunteers Merseyside and Canal and Rivers Trust have.

The Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) award ceremony was held in Birmingham on June 28.