Current and past editions of the Marine Litter Watch Newsletter can be found here:  https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/publications/marine-litter-watch-newsletter

The aim of the Northern Ireland Marine Litter Strategy is to help realise the vision of "clean, healtht, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans"

We are delighted to have been awarded a grant by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to provide new training opportunities under the HLF Nature Skills NI programme.

This funding follows on from the success of the Skills for Living Landscapes and Seas Project and supports our ongoing commitment to training, allowing us to open up the opportunity for a career in the nature conservation sector to a wider range of people.

There is a skills gap in our sector and this project has enabled Ulster...

House holders are being asked to “Make the right connection and keep rivers and beaches clean for everyone to enjoy”

Household drainage misconnections occur where a foul water flow is connected in errof to a surface water drain, resulting in untreated wastewater going directly to your local river and may end up on beaches. Similarly, if gutters and gulleys are wrongly connected, they will be sending clean rainwater into foul water drain, overwhelming it and causing flooding and untreated wastewater going directly to rivers and beaches.

So what can you do? The answer...

On Thursday 21st September volunteers joined us to clean a further stretch of the Lecale Way. Yet again the weather was on our side and we were able to clean up about a mile of coastline. With 12 volunteers in total we managed to lift over 20 bags of litter, assorted lengths of rope, 4 small storage drums, and a car wheel. Our thanks to all the volunteers that came along, your hard work is greatly appreciated.

Hundreds to Join the Lecale ‘Big Swim and Paddle’

6 village communities along the Lecale Coast, County Down, are inviting everyone to celebrate their beautiful beaches on 1 August with The Lecale ‘Big Swim and Paddle’ when hundreds of people are expected to take to the water, following the 'Big Swim and Paddle' from...

Portaferry will be filled with Medieval Mayhem on Sat 13 and Sun 14 June during the annual Strangford Lough Festival. Those turbulent times were action packed and you can try on chain mail, wield a sword and bring out your inner thirst for battle with the castles' men–at-arms. Falconry and archery displays and have-a-go sessions will be a huge draw at Exploris Park and you can also pick up some ancient recipes or try out your writing skills with the cooks and scriptor monk.

The Festival...

Farmers and landowners invited to participate in
townlands and gateways project

The Strangford Lough and Lecale Partnership are restoring tradition gateways as part of our townlands and gateways project and are asking local farmers and landowners to get involved. We restore sets of traditional gates and stone gateposts at no cost to the farmer. Through this work we hope to provide opportunities for local people to find out more about traditional farm practices and built heritage on their land. We have already...