Debate contribution: Nature Recovery Strategy: Consultation Launch

Debate contribution by Mr Andrew Muir on 20 January 2026.

MLA

Mr Andrew Muir

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

20 January 2026

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Ministerial Statements

Heading

Nature Recovery Strategy: Consultation Launch

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5348316

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Ten out of 10. That is probably the longest question I have ever got. Even Matthew has never got away with that.

Most of us in the Chamber will know of places in our constituency that were affected by the storm. Tonight on BBC 2, ‘Winterwatch’ will profile its impact on Mount Stewart. We have to learn lessons from that about climate adaptation, and I have a plan for that with the Executive. We also have to learn lessons for our replanting. I am happy to engage with you about Gosford Forest Park; initially, that may be with officials. I know Gosford. I have been down there, and it is a great place to be. I did a 10k run down there. I value the forest and can see why the local community was affected by the storm damage. Alongside that, we need to do more on the tree planting action plan, and that work is under way. We need to set out a way to plant more trees and build resilience.

Thank you, Kellie. It was great to be with you at Mount Stewart, and it is good that it is being profiled to a national audience tonight. Good work is being undertaken at Mount Stewart. The storm provided challenges but also opportunities for the nature restoration there. More practically, the risks to Mount Stewart caused by the impact of climate change were profiled this morning on Radio Ulster. There is merit in setting targets in law. I am conscious that the European Union has progressed actions for nature restoration. The draft strategy sets out that we will consult on targets and then bring proposals to the Executive. I am conscious that Mark H Durkan is progressing a potential private Member's Bill in that area. I have told him that there is merit in that. If there are ways in which we can strengthen our protections for nature, I am prepared to consider them.

Yes. That is an international commitment. It is stretching, but it is important that I set it out in the context of the strategy, because that is what guides our actions. We are not looking for compulsory purchase; it is about bringing people with us. For example, one of the key things about Farming with Nature is that it needs to happen in a way that is attractive to farmers, because they are running an enterprise — they are family farms — and we want to make sure that it is viable for them to do so. Our focus will be on that in the time ahead.

I join you, Andy, in an appreciation of getting out and about. As citizens, we value nature. We need to do more tree planting, and that is why we commissioned the Strategic Investment Board to take forward a tree planting action plan. The target delivery for the plan is around March or April of this year.

I am conscious that Northern Ireland has low levels of afforestation. We therefore need to turn the curve. That is why we are developing a tree planting action plan. We are doing that in conjunction with stakeholders, and I thank them for their engagement with my Department.

I am very aware of Slieve Gullion. It is somewhere that I visit not just in the winter but in the summer, and it is a very valued part of Northern Ireland. Support is available through the environment fund for organisations that do great work. Let me be clear that the delivery of the strategy will involve a lot of working with environmental and non-governmental organisations on the ground that deliver such work. I set that out in my statement, but, in it, I provided just a summary of the fantastic work that is occurring across Northern Ireland. We are very keen to work with those groups and to support them.

I engage on those issues and am happy to continue to do so. The Member raised a couple of issues. I will take the last one, which concerns TB. I understand its importance. We will undertake a consultation on wildlife interventions in the spring, and it is important that people respond to it. It is one of the three pillars, along with people and cattle, in our blueprint for the eradication of bovine TB, so I understand the issue's importance. There is an action in the wildfires strategic framework to undertake a review of, and a consultation on, prescribed burning. We need to do that. Farmers have a massive role to play in the management of areas and, hopefully, in the prevention of wildfires. Regulation is one side of that, while the other is education. I am happy to continue to engage with stakeholders so that we can find a better way forward, because, although it may be winter now, my mind is already focused on the potential for wildfires occurring again. That is why the nature recovery strategy also has a role to play in how we better manage protected areas. The best way in which to do that is through cooperation and consultation with landowners.

853 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:12 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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