Urgent action must be taken to better protect and restore Northern Ireland’s most precious places for nature, a report released today [Thursday, April 3] has found.
In its latest report, the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) examines how well laws designed to protect key areas for nature, such as the Antrim Hills, Upper Lough Erne, Lough Neagh and Rathlin Island, are working.
These areas and others represent the most important of Northern Ireland’s natural landscapes and biodiversity. They support rare or threatened plants, animals and habitats.
Because of their importance to nature, they are legally designated as protected sites, with the aim they will be properly protected and managed.
However, not enough sites are being designated, and the condition of those that have been is getting worse rather than better, the OEP reports.
The habitats and species features of these sites that were in favourable condition dropped from 61.7% in 2008, to 51.5% in 2024. While work to earmark further sites for protection has slowed, with Northern Ireland lagging behind the rest of the UK, Ireland and Europe in its coverage of protected sites.
Natalie Prosser, OEP Chief Executive Officer (CEO), said: “The need to act is urgent. Instead of seeing the improvement of these precious sites we see deterioration. And the designation of areas as protected sites has effectively stalled with no new sites being designated since 2018, leaving important places for nature unprotected.
“Our report identifies that the failings are largely not in the legal framework for protecting these natural treasures, instead it is the implementation of these important laws that is falling short.”
The report makes 14 recommendations to the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).
These include to:
• Set legally-binding targets for increasing the designation of protected sites and restoring their condition - support this with a plan to make sure the targets are met and that they are reviewed regularly
• Ensure that tailored and ongoing advice and support is available to all owners and occupiers of protected sites
• Ensure that restoring protected sites is a key consideration in the new Farming with Nature agri-environment scheme, which is currently being developed by DAERA
Northern Ireland has committed to contribute to the UK’s fulfilment of the global target that at least 30% of land and sea is effectively conserved and managed by 2030, the so-called ‘30 by 30’ target in the Global Biodiversity Framework. Improvements in the coverage and condition of its protected sites will play a critical part if this vital target is to be met.
The OEP CEO added: “We have the 30 by 30 target fast approaching. Action needs to be taken now to turn things around. The designation of more protected sites must be kick-started and work to restore them must be significantly scaled-up and sped-up if Northern Ireland is to contribute, as it must, to global targets and turn things around.
“Although much more needs to be done, we don’t believe the challenges are insurmountable. It can work in future, as we have seen that it has worked in the past when there were periods of good progress.
“There are dedicated people committed to this work, but they must now have the support from across government to match the scale of the task in order to do the job, the way legislation intended.”
The Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) for Northern Ireland, that was agreed by the Executive in September 2024, is the roadmap for how government will tackle environmental challenges and drive positive change. It includes commitments to increase the area of land that is protected, connected and managed for nature and to improve the condition of protected sites.
Ms Prosser added: “The EIP commitments on protected sites are a most welcome step in the right direction. However, what we must see now is a reset that translates these commitments into results, if Northern Ireland’s rich natural tapestry, that it is so well-known for, is to be secured for the benefit of current and future generations.”
Press the blue button on this page to read the report.
