Minister Muir launches NI Environment Week

The aim of NI Environment Week, organised by Northern Ireland Environment Link (NIEL), is to provide opportunities for MLAs, policymakers, the environmental sector and the general public to celebrate Northern Ireland’s environment. A highlight of the environment sector calendar, Environment Week 2024 will run from the 21st to the 28th October. The theme for this year’s Environment Week is “Landscapes” and the important role they play in our collective sense of place and to connect people with nature. NIEL also took the opportunity to launch the NI Environment Link Strategy 2024-26 at the event.

Landscapes NI which is the network of all our designated and iconic landscapes in Northern Ireland will be central in helping to deliver Environment Week 2024. Landscapes NI champions the restoration of our diverse and iconic landscapes for the benefit of our health, nature, economy, and our planet. They do this through sharing best practice, advocating for improved policy, legislation and frameworks to help restore nature in our landscapes, support those who live and work in these places, promote their special qualities to the public and encouraging accessibility to all.

Environment Week 2024 offers a jam-packed programme of Landscape themes talks and seminars with Landscape NI members hosting a series of events across Northern Ireland providing a unique opportunity for the public to get involved with our wonderful landscapes, get closer to nature and contribute to environmental debate and discussion.

A key part of NI Environment Week 2024 will be an extremely engaging event linked to the International Day of Landscapes on Wednesday 23rd October 2024 in the Long Gallery, Stormont at which Landscapes NI will showcase the myriad benefits landscapes provide to nature, people, the economy and indeed the planet as well as launching a new manifesto for landscapes.

DAERA Minister Andrew Muir, MLA, who also attended the launch of Environment Week 2024 at Parliament buildings commented: “I welcome the opportunity to be part of the launch of Environment Week. It is an ideal opportunity to reinforce the importance of a healthy natural environment and the benefits it brings to all of our society. Whilst there is much to do to improve the ecology of Northern Ireland, there are many aspects of our rich environment which should be celebrated and enjoyed including DAERA’s country parks and those Forest Service areas which are open to the public. The events planned throughout this week will highlight the many areas of our environment we should be proud of, and those areas where we need a concerted and collaborative effort to make significant improvements.”

The event on the 21st October at Parliament buildings was jointly sponsored by Mr Andrew McMurray MLA, Sinead Ennis MLA and Diane Forsythe MLA. Speaking in advance of the launch,

Andrew McMurray MLA said: “The NIEL strategy 2024-26 highlights the importance of influencing policy makers, and this event is clearly a significant way to do that which is why I am very excited to support it! However, more than that, the strategy also alludes to enabling and empowering the sector to build capacity and inter-sectoral partnerships to deliver on joint initiatives. Nature based solutions are needed more than ever in this age of biodiversity and climate crises and these must be developed in ways that support environmental, economic and social sustainability and beyond that to regeneration across many sectors.

“Partnership working and interagency co-operation is key to success, and it is my hope that this event (and also the Landscapes NI event on Wednesday) will help to foster better networking, connectivity and the breaking down of barriers within and across different sectors.”

Stephen Aston, Chairperson of Northern Ireland Environment Link, commented: “Environment Week provides us with an opportunity to take time to celebrate our rich natural and built heritage while considering the many opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. We hope that Environment Week will be an opportunity to not only raise awareness of environmental issues among our local public representatives at but also among the general public through a number of local events.”

Martin Carey, Chair of Landscapes NI added: “I am delighted to see NI’s rich diversity of landscapes recognised as a focal point of Environment Week. As well as engaging people in celebrating these jewels, we look forward to exploring with policy makers the untapped potential for area-based approaches to contribute to addressing urgent challenges like climate change, pollution and the biodiversity crisis.”