Minister for Agriculture, Environment, and Rural Affairs for Northern Ireland, Andrew Muir, has chaired the second Lough Neagh stakeholder forum on the shores of Lough Neagh at Ballyronan Marina.
The forum brings together stakeholders as work continues to implement the Lough Neagh Action Plan.
Speaking following the second forum, Minister Muir said: “Today marks another important step in our shared journey to improve the water quality of Lough Neagh and its wider catchment.
“This is not a challenge that any single organisation or sector can address alone, it requires a collaborative, science-led, and sustained effort from all of us.
“This forum is an important platform for collaborative action. A number of key actions from the plan will be taken forward in the next period of time, it’s important we work together on the interventions needed to improve water quality.”
The minister added: “As I have previously stated, the serious water quality problems at Lough Neagh were decades in the making and will be decades in the fixing. It is sadly highly likely that we will yet again witness another recurrence of the blue-green algae blooms this year.
“In March last year I stated that difficult interventions will be required to address the ecological and biodiversity crisis declared at Lough Neagh.
“I will continue taking the action needed coupled with sustained engagement to help turn the tide on water quality at Lough Neagh and elsewhere.”
After the blue-green algae bloom in 2023, DAERA published a 37-point action plan to protect the water of Lough Neagh.
The report cited a combination of several factors that led to the bloom including pollution by nutrients from agriculture, wastewater, septic tanks, and industrial processes.
At the event stakeholders were provided with a progress update on the implementation of the action plan with focus on communications and education activity underway.
