Joint biodiversity officer

It marks the beginning of a process of finding out what wildlife is out there in Moyle, Ballymoney, Coleraine and Limavady Council areas, and making plans to involve as many people as possible in protecting it into the future.

What is BIODIVERSITY all about?

Rachel Bain, the joint Biodiversity Officer explains, “Biodiversity is essentially the variety of all living things, from a small insect to a large tree and also people such as you and I. You can find biodiversity almost everywhere, in your garden, road verges, farmland, woodlands, and the seashore, however, there is a large concern over the decline in biodiversity all around the world and it is important to try to address this loss at a local level”.

She adds, “This is a very important and interesting project, and I am especially pleased to be working in the Moyle, Ballymoney, Coleraine and Limavady areas, which is renowned for its important terrestrial & coastal habitats and species. An exciting part of the post will be working with local people, from local experts to those who have even the smallest interest in wildlife” Rachel continues, “Through this project I hope to find out what biodiversity is out there and what is especially important to the people of the this area and work with them to help look after it long into the future!”

This joint project with Moyle, Ballymoney, Coleraine and Limavady Councils is initially part funded for two years by NIEA. The information already gathered for the audits will be used as a starting point to write the Local Biodiversity Action Plan, which will have recommendations for actions to help conserve and enhance the biodiversity of these council areas for the future, and look at opportunities to involve everybody in the local area.

These opportunities could range from wildlife gardening, creating a wildflower meadow, to projects like helping to identify sites of local wildlife value for possible designation as Local Nature Reserves. Everybody can get involved and help.

Rachel says, “I need help from as many people as possible to make a truly LOCAL Biodiversity Action Plan for the Moyle, Ballymoney, Coleraine and Limavady areas!”

Rachel is appealing for anybody interested in helping to improve biodiversity in the Moyle, Ballymoney, Coleraine and Limavady area to contact her on 028 7034 7272 or 07738 340799 or e-mail [email protected]