TV WILDLIFE favourite Chris Packham will kick off a year of celebrations for local conservation charity the Cheshire Wildlife Trust.
The latest face to front the hugely popular BBC Springwatch and Autumnwatch live series, photographer and filmmaker Chris is the first of a host of TV naturalists visiting the North West in 2012 as part of the trust’s 50th anniversary.
Other guests include Big Cat Diary and former Springwatch co-host Simon King OBE, who will join the charity for a special evening in September, after becoming the Wildlife Trust’s latest UK president last year.
The events mark 50 years since the formation of the Cheshire Conservation Trust, later to become Cheshire Wildlife Trust.
The charity – supported almost entirely by its 12,000 strong membership – now looks after more than 40 nature reserves from the Wirral to Macclesfield Forest, managing hundreds of hectares of land and has recently begun the second phase of its Living Landscape scheme.
The trust initially started with just two nature reserves in 1962, and one of its first battles was the challenge to safeguard wildlife and woodlands during the construction of Manchester Airport.
All events will be posted on the trust’s Facebook page and their website at www.cheshirewildlifetrust.org.uk.
