A new plan has been drawn up to improve the environmental quality of Rea’s wood and Farr’s Bay. The Lough Neagh Partnership working closely with the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council and local stakeholders has drawn up a new plan to help protect and improve the quality of these small woodlands on the shores of Lough Neagh. The plan which covers both sites, gives recognition to the importance of these woods and their unique and high designation of “ Special Areas for Conservation”. The sites are special in that they are known as wet woodlands and have a very unique ecosystem and habitat mosaic which is getting rarer and rarer as habitats such as these come under increasing pressure.
The new plan identifies the need for a new integrated body to take responsibility for the wood’s future management and recommends actions such as the managed removal of harmful invasive species, the need to keep on top of the large amounts of litter that accumulate along the woods shore and the need to keep the woods in a wet condition, to support the unique species of flora and fauna that live there.
Conor Jordan chairperson of the Lough Neagh Partnership commented.
“This new management plan for Reas Wood and Farrs Bay is part of a wider drive by the Partnership to help protect the wider shoreline of Lough Neagh and is a good example of improving the environment at a local level by working with local stakeholders such as Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council. I look forward to getting involved in future litter lifts on the site and would ask that all local partners to get involved and take this opportunity to improve environmental quality of important woodlands such as these.”