Views of Belfast City from Divis
The National Trust is marking its 130th birthday by unveiling hugely ambitious plans for the next decade and beyond, as it launches a new 10-year strategy.
The charity vows unprecedented action to tackle the nature crisis, end unequal access to nature and cultural heritage and inspire millions more people to protect the world around them.
Director-General Hilary McGrady said:
“For 130 years, the National Trust has responded to the crises and challenges of the time. Today, nature is declining before our eyes and climate change is threatening homes and habitats on a colossal scale. Meanwhile, millions of people can’t enjoy the benefits that green space and heritage bring.
“So we will significantly step up our efforts to restore nature, both on our own land and beyond our boundaries. We are pledging to end the inequity of access to green space and cultural heritage, and to inspire millions more people to take action to protect the things we all need to thrive.
“Our charity’s founders were passionate campaigners who recognised the threats to our natural and cultural heritage, and, against the odds, did something about it. That same boldness is needed today. The Trust is uniquely placed to do something about these challenges and it’s why we are setting ourselves these ambitious but much-needed goals.”
Trust vows unprecedented action to tackle catastrophic decline in nature
Over the last ten years the Trust have restored over 900 hectares of nature rich landscape across Northern Ireland and will continue to work in partnership with environmental organisations, farmers, landowners and local communities and could increase tenfold over the next decade.
With a particular focus on restoring peatland, improving the quality of the water in rivers and reconnecting landscapes, the Trust will make strategic land acquisitions in support of this goal, and support other landowners to manage their own land well for nature.
The Trust has laid the groundwork for this ambition and is currently undertaking exciting projects including Divis ‘A View to the Future’, which aims to restore nature and improve access for the communities at the foot of Divis and the Black Mountain through an investment of over £6million.
Peatland restoration work is underway on this unique landscape to combat climate change and boost biodiversity in the area.
The restoration work involves installing a weather station and water flumes at strategic points to track the volume flow and quality of the water. A flume is a specially shaped man-made channel for water consisting of a chute with walls which are raised above the surrounding terrain. They allow the water to free-flow and enable water level to be measured. The vital information the flumes capture will enable the rewetting and restoration of the land to be targeted, enabling the capture of carbon, which is important to combat climate change and support the wide range of plants and animals that live there.
This will lead to a fully developed plan to restore up to 133 hectares of peatland over the next three years, reducing emissions of CO2 and methane from these degraded peatlands, so it will become a carbon sink, capturing, and storing carbon once again.
This project has been made possible thanks to funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund (£3million), Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) (£1.5million) and the Garfield Weston Foundation (£300,000).
Dr Paul Mullan, Northern Ireland Director at The National Lottery Heritage Fund said:
“Thanks to National Lottery players we are one of the UK’s largest investors in natural heritage and we strongly believe that everyone benefits from landscapes rich in nature and beauty. At a time when our most precious places are facing immense challenges due to a changing climate and rapidly declining nature and biodiversity, we are so pleased to support the National Trust and the team at Divis and the Black Mountain on this vital peatland restoration. It’s one important element of a wider heritage project that is supporting habitats and species and removing barriers to access so that everyone feels able to connect with nature.”
Sheep on the Mourne Mountains
Trust launches ambitious plans to end unequal access to nature, beauty and history
Alongside stepping up its efforts to tackle the nature and climate crises, the National Trust will significantly level up access to nature, beauty and history over the next ten years, with a view to ending unequal access by 2050.
In Northern Ireland 63% of the population live in urban areas yet only 3.5% of publicly accessible green space is within the development limit of our towns and cities. The physical and mental health benefits of accessible urban greenspace in Northern Ireland is estimated at over £1bn every year, in savings to the NHS – made up of a mental wellbeing value of £717m per annum and a physical wellbeing value of £381m per year.
Through the towns and cities partnership, the National Trust, working with National Lottery Heritage Fund, Northern Ireland Environment Agency and Northern Ireland Environment Link, are calling for closer collaboration, starting with building local capacity and skills to maximise the role green spaces play in connecting people, providing space for nature, and helping towns and cities adapting to climate pressures.
The Divis project mentioned above aims to ensure that local communities surrounding the largest urban greenspace in the city can easily access the health and wellbeing benefits of the nature, beauty, and history on their doorstep. This year will see construction begin on a path from Glencairn, the boardwalk will be replaced and work on the visitor hub will start.
Edward Paul Clarke, a local Divis resident, said:
“In 1990, I returned home from London during the height of the Troubles and started visiting Divis and the Black Mountain to keep fit. I quickly fell in love with the landscape and have been coming here ever since. Watching it transform from a restricted military zone to a National Trust site visited by people who could not access the area before and had to view it from a distance has been incredible. It has opened a beautiful space for thousands of people from all backgrounds to come together, enjoy nature, and stay active. I especially love the events on the mountain, and my family and I have made so many wonderful memories here over the years."
On the North Coast, as a result of a partnership between National Trust and Mae Murray Foundation, Portstewart Strand now boasts facilities that cater to the needs of the whole community, including those with more complex needs. Access to the beach, water and activities is enabled through the free beach wheelchair and walker loan scheme, accessible walkways, gender neutral toilet provision and a Changing Places Toilet facility.
Following the success achieved by the partnership between the National Trust and Mae Murray Foundation over the past few years, there will be an expansion of inclusive services offered across further North Coast properties. This includes the addition of a stair climber at Mussenden Temple that will allow wheelchair users to experience events inside the iconic cliff-side venue.
Multiple studies demonstrate the wellbeing benefits of time spent in nature. But access to nature remains very unequal and the impacts of the UK’s mental health crisis are far-reaching, with 17 million working days a year now lost to mental health-related issues.
Inspiring future generations, love and action for nature and history
The charity is aiming to inspire over 150,000 people across Northern Ireland to give their time or money in support over the next ten years. New volunteering opportunities, both directly with the Trust and with partner organisations, will give people the chance to make an impact in the areas most important to them.
Fundraising will be critical to the Trust achieving these goals and the charity is aiming to fundraise more in the next decade than it has in the previous century. People wanting to play their part in restoring nature by contributing financially can “Adopt a Plot”, the National Trust’s new fundraising initiative allowing people to sponsor a plot of land for nature recovery at a site that is meaningful to them.
One of the six ‘nature super sites’ selected across the UK is Divis and the Black Mountain in Belfast, where a three-year plan to restore up to 133 hectares of peatland is underway.
The charity will continue to work in partnership to inspire others and take action for nature on important landscapes, such as the Mournes. Through the Forever Mournes partnership, National Trust are working alongside Mourne Heritage Trust, Woodland Trust Northern Ireland and NI Water to develop a long-term vision for the collective area of public and charitable lands, looking at land use, visitor management, infrastructure and tackling the emerging challenges of a changing climate. There have already been some important achievements such as restoring woodland and upland heath in Annalong Valley, path work repair along the Glen River, drone surveys to assess fire damage, peat restoration work and a Dogs on Leads campaign to protect the local environment and livestock on the mountain.
Martin Carey, Chief Executive at the Mourne Heritage Trust said:
“Partnership work is vital to provide the coordination and resources to magnify these approaches to landscape scale, making them proportionate to the pressures impacting on our prized landscape and the eco-system goods and services it provides in respect of clean water, carbon sequestration and health and well-being. In particular, it is important that there is continuity of resource to take the multi-year approach required to address these important issues. As an organisation dependent on piecemeal grant funding, MHT is heartened by the shared commitment to develop long term approaches. We look forward to building on the unity of purpose that has been evident in Forever Mournes to date.”
Highest standards of care and conservation alongside world-class exhibitions, programming and festivals
Looking after Northern Ireland’s local heritage will continue to underpin everything the Trust does. New exhibitions, programming and artist commissions will continue to shed light on the historic places and collections in the care of the Trust, and on the people whose lives were shaped by them.
This year will see exciting new acquisitions, with the return of the conserved Lavery painting to Mount Stewart and Lady Ann to Castle Ward. At Springhill library, the Reading the Room project will look at how books in historic houses libraries differ from research libraries.
This March will also see the return of lace curtains to The Argory. The curtains have been repaired through surface and wet cleaning, and stitched support treatment to stabilise them for rehanging. Applique on bobbinet is seen in several lace-making techniques developed in Ireland in the 19thCentury, such as Carrickmacross and Limerick lace. The stitching may have been done by hand, or with a hand-powered chain stitch machine.
Programming and Experiences Teams are developing a host of innovative experiences. The Trust is working with Belfast Photo Festival on collaborative project - Visualising Northern Ireland’s Natural Heritage. The Belfast Photo Festival seeks to foster creativity, build meaningful connections, host engaging exhibitions, and drive impactful public engagement. We aim to preserve heritage through a focus on four key Natural Heritage themes across Northern Ireland, highlighting Divis and the Black Mountain.
This Summer, the National Trust is supporting the Council for British Archaeology (CBA) Festival of Archaeology, the UK's largest annual celebration of archaeology. This year’s theme is Archaeology and Wellbeing. The festival will kick off on 19 July with the launch day at Divis and the Black Mountain, in collaboration with the CBA. This archaeology-themed day will feature a variety of fun and educational activities for all ages, exploring the history and secrets of the Mountain.
Throughout the two-week festival from19 July – 3 August 2025, many National Trust properties will offer a wide range of activities, including guided walks, artifact handling, talks, children's activities, surveying and excavations. These events are designed to help visitors explore the exciting hidden histories of National Trust places through archaeology.
More details on the National Trust’s goals to restore nature, end unequal access to nature, beauty and history and inspire millions of people are available in its 2025-2035 strategy.