16th December: Peatlands restoration project gets €15m funding boost

A new funding injection of €15 million is set to deliver a boost for a multi-partner, cross-border peatlands restoration project, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage announced today (Friday, December 16).

The European Union-funded Wild Atlantic Nature LIFE Integrated Project (IP) will receive €10 million from the government’s Shared Island Fund and an additional €5 million in co-funding through the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, in collaboration with the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) and NatureScot.

The Wild Atlantic Nature project, which was launched in 2021, works with farm families, rural communities and other groups in the northwest of Ireland to “conserve and improve” the quality of blanket bogs.