Northern Ireland contains a wide range of habitats. Human activity over the past 10,000 years has altered the original land cover and created the land based or terrestrial semi-natural habitats seen throughout Northern Ireland today. These habitats can vary greatly and often merge into one another, dependant on local conditions, such as changes in climate and soil.
A review of the UK priority habitats was started in 2005. This was a thorough and inclusive process which involved a large number of people and organisations and led to an increase in UK Priority Habitats from 49 to 65, with a few habitats being renamed. These proposals were agreed by Governments of all four UK administrations in August 2007.
View the list of Northern Ireland Priority Habitats (.PDF 50Kb)
which recently been updated. The list reflects those ‘new’ UK habitats which are known to occur in Northern Ireland.
Implementation groups have been set up to oversee each habitat type: Coastal and Marine Biodiversity, Farmland Biodiversity, Freshwater and Wetlands, Peatlands and Uplands Biodiversity and the Northern Ireland Native Woodland Group.