Belfast to receive over £850K of National Lottery funding to help connect people with nature - Ulster Wildlife

We are pleased to be working in partnership with Belfast City Council to deliver a major new project, Breaking Through Barriers to Connect People and Nature, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The major new project aimed at helping people across the city connect with nature and is one of one of 19 projects across the UK funded through the Nature Towns and Cities programme.

The funding was awarded through a highly competitive UK-wide process, with 276 applications seeking more than £170 million. Belfast was one of only 37 projects shortlisted and one of three in Northern Ireland to receive support.

Nature Towns and Cities is a UK-wide initiative designed to ensure more people can enjoy the benefits of nature and green space close to home. Over the next 10 years, the programme aims to help five million more people access green and blue spaces and enable one million more children to play in nature on their doorstep.

In Belfast, the project will help develop a shared vision for nature recovery across the city and surrounding areas and will also explore practical ways to bring more nature into everyday spaces, from greening streets and alleyways and creating pocket parks to planting wildflowers and improving existing parks and open spaces.

Deputy Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Paul Doherty, said: “This investment will help us build on the work already underway across the city to make Belfast greener, healthier and more resilient. We know that access to nature is not equal across our communities. Through this project we want to work with residents to identify opportunities in their neighbourhoods, whether that’s greening streets and alleyways, creating small pocket parks, planting more trees and wildflowers, or improving local open spaces. By connecting people with nature where they live, we can deliver real benefits for biodiversity, climate resilience and community wellbeing.”