The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has awarded £2.7 million to five not-for-profit organisations to undertake peatland restoration projects across Northern Ireland and the border region.
The funding has been made available as part of a shared island cooperation programme which includes the Republic Ireland and Scotland.
The grants will enable projects to address the deterioration of peatlands and the impact on climate change over the next three years.
Peatland restoration
The Peatland Challenge Fund forms part of the Cross-Border Peatlands Restoration Programme announced in 2022.
The programme, announced in December 2022, is a partnership between the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), and NatureScot.
The initiative is supported through funding of €10 million from the Irish Government’s Shared Island Fund and €5 million from the NPWS with contributions also from DAERA and Nature Scot.
The organisations which have been successful in their funding applications include:
- Ulster Wildlife with its project ‘Building capacity for peatland restoration’;
- RSPBNI with its project ‘Peat restoration in collaboration’;
- The National Trust with its project ‘Understanding our past natural and cultural landscape heritage to enhance current peatland restoration’;
- Fermanagh and Omagh District Council with its project ‘Cross border peatland scoping project’;
- Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust with its project ‘Altikeeragh peatland restoration and monitoring’.
Announcing the funding, Northern Ireland Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Andrew Muir said:
“The projects awarded funding will restore peatland habitats, build capacity for sustaining this progress, and inform and engage the public with the knowledge of the enormous importance of peatlands to our environment.
“This is an exciting next step in Northern Ireland’s journey towards healthier and more resilient peatlands.
“We can look to the future with confidence that our precious peatlands will help us meet our biodiversity targets and Net Zero contributions.”
Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien welcomed the funding announcement.
“The restoration of peatlands, which are an integral component of our shared ecosystem, is a key measure in the joint fight to protect biodiversity and combat climate change.
“The collaboration between our National Parks and Wildlife Service with the Northern Ireland Environment Agency and NatureScot is helping to conserve our peatlands and biodiversity resources, which the government of Ireland is pleased to support, as part of the Shared Island initiative,” he said.
