GMAAS is delighted to be working in partnership with the Forestry Commission on ‘Project K’. The project enables local historic environment services to create new, additional and updated SHINE records. This acronym stands for ‘Selected Heritage Inventory for Natural England’, which is a consistent dataset of non-designated historic features that would benefit from management through agri-environment schemes. Introduced initially in 2008, the Forestry Commission now intends to employ SHINE records to inform future woodland creation schemes.
Project K provides a valuable opportunity to enhance existing records held by the county’s Historic Environment Record for sites within the Low Sensitivity Areas of Greater Manchester, as defined by the Forestry Commission’s Sensitivity to Woodland Creation mapping. Historic mapping and aerial photography for these areas will be examined to check for previously unrecognised sites of interest. The resultant data will help to ensure that below-ground remains are not adversely impacted by future planting schemes. It will also raise awareness of archaeological sites within Greater Manchester.