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AF
€20 million allocated to cross-border habitat preservation project
['Orlaith Delaney']
Agriland.ie
Over €20 million in funding will be provided over the next four years to tackle the decline in priority species and habitats in Northern Ireland and the border counties of the Republic of Ireland.
The cross-border project, titled PeacePlus Nature, will work to restore blanket bog, lowland wet grassland and limestone grassland; and priority species from breeding waders to the Marsh Fritillary butterfly.
Birdwatch Ireland said its role in the project "will be the protection and conservation of breeding waders, particularly at sites in Co. Donegal".
Birdwatch Ireland has also "arguably most importantly, installed a network of Predator Exclusion Fences (PEFs) across Donegal".
PeacePlus Nature is part of the PEACEPLUS cross-border initiative, which is also funding collaboration between agricultural shows in Northern Ireland and Ireland, and helping freshwater bodies in cross-border river basins to achieve good or high quality, among other projects.