Lough Neagh Partnership Marks Progress Toward a Sustainable Future
As the Lough Neagh Ownership and Heritage Resilience Project nears completion next month, the Lough Neagh Partnership is celebrating significant steps toward securing the long-term health of one of Northern Ireland’s most important natural and cultural landscapes.
Supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the project has united community groups, environmental specialists, statutory bodies, local businesses, and residents to shape a long-term strategy for the Lough’s environmental recovery, cultural heritage, and sustainable management.
Central to the work is the creation of the Lough Neagh Heritage Resilience Plan—a decade-long strategy based on extensive research and consultation. The Plan sets out a vision for restoring ecosystems, strengthening cultural identity, and supporting sustainable livelihoods, forming a key element of the wider Forever Lough Neagh initiative and its shared “Roadmap to Recovery.”
Another major focus has been examining future ownership and management options for the bed and soil of Lough Neagh. Working with Development Trust NI and Lough Neagh Development Trust, legal, and governance experts have been engaged, the project has developed proposals for a community-based trust model that would reinvest any income directly into conservation, heritage, and community development—representing a potentially historic shift in how Northern Ireland manages shared natural assets.
Over the previous two years partnership working has underpinned the project, with close collaboration between Lough Neagh Partnership, DAERA, NIEA, Forever Lough Neagh, Development Trust NI, and Lough Neagh Development Trust. Local communities—including fishermen, farmers, craftspeople, and tourism providers—have shaped the Plan through surveys, consultations, and workshops, ensuring that future action is locally grounded and community-led.
Both the 10-Year Lough Neagh Heritage Resilience Plan & proposals for new ownership and management will be formally published in the New Year.
