Wild Belfast and Buglife have come collectively to focus on what they describe as an alarming lack of wildlife-rich brownfield habitat throughout Belfast. Some brownfield websites in Belfast can assist uncommon and endangered wildlife, together with well-loved species equivalent to Crimson-shanked Carder Bee (Bombus ruderarius), Frequent Lizard (Zootoca vivipara) and Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus). Nevertheless, many of those nature hotspots are in danger from being misplaced to improvement, because the charities clarify.
“The state of Belfast’s brownfields: nature under threat” 2024 report exhibits that over a seven-year interval, 40% of 47 brownfield websites that Buglife had beforehand recognized as essential for wildlife in Belfast have been misplaced, broken or are in speedy risk. Concerningly, when reside planning purposes are additionally thought of, over 60% of the whole space of this very important habitat has both been misplaced or is beneath speedy threat- with probably profound impacts for nature within the metropolis.
Brownfields can assist an enormous range of wildlife, usually offering refuges for species which have suffered inhabitants crashes because of habitat loss, equivalent to wildflower meadows disappearing from the panorama. They’ll embrace quarries, disused railways strains, spoil heaps, even former industrial estates which have been allowed to turn into city havens for wildlife. Sadly, regardless of usually being the final remaining ‘wild’ inexperienced areas in Belfast’s neighbourhoods, brownfields are steadily focused for improvement.
Conor McKinney, Chair of the Wild Belfast group group says, “Now is a critical period for the protection of biodiversity. Our planning system offers the potential to protect and enhance biodiversity- or to destroy it. Despite being a priority habitat our planning system is currently failing to protect wildlife-rich brownfield sites in Belfast, or indeed across Northern Ireland. Nature and planning authorities must seize the opportunities available to them to protect these sites for nature and the communities with which they share these valuable wild urban spaces”.
Buglife has beforehand recognized and measured the extent of brownfields essential for invertebrates in a 2017 report- a habitat also known as ‘Open mosaic habitat on previously developed land’. Shortly after that report, the habitat was listed as a conservation precedence in Northern Eire. Nevertheless, this new examine that revisits these websites means that regardless of this dedication, these essential wildlife websites are nonetheless being misplaced, hindering the town’s nature restoration ambitions.
Jamie Robins, Programmes Supervisor of Buglife says, “Brownfields which have been reclaimed by nature are becoming increasingly important for our rare invertebrates as the wider countryside is degraded. We need to do more to protect these wildlife havens. The remaining wildlife-rich brownfields should be protected from development and embraced as a key nature recovery solution, and celebrating the role they have to play in giving communities a place to connect with nature.”
The 2024 report means that Belfast’s brownfields should be higher recognised and guarded by the planning system. It additionally means that the most effective websites be integrated into the essential Web site of Native Nature Conservation Significance (SLNCI) community. As well as, the report seems past Belfast and recommends {that a} Northern Eire extensive stock of the habitat ought to be urgently created.