A new Biodiversity Strategy has been launched in Fermanagh and Omagh.

Fermanagh and Omagh District Council announced the strategy as a response to the impact of climate change and need to restore ecosystems.

The strategy, which aims to encourage more people to connect with nature and protect and enhance our local biodiversity, focuses on evidence-based needs across seven key themes.

Speaking at the launch of the Biodiversity Strategy, the Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, Councillor Barry McElduff said: "Our district is a unique and rich environment that is home to a wide variety of protected habitats and wildlife; it is renowned for its beautiful scenery and wide-open landscape of hills, lakes, rivers, caves, woodlands and bogs. And that means we have a special responsibility to protect and sustain it not just for ourselves but for future generations and the planet.

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"It is important to recognise that a global biodiversity crisis can also have an impact locally. Therefore, together we must act now to reverse this.

"This Strategy outlines the positive action and practical steps which the Council can take including raising awareness of the importance of biodiversity amongst residents of all ages. We must all work in partnership to ensure we protect, enhance and restore our biodiversity locally."

From implementing the Don't Mow Let It Grow campaign for pollinators and planting more than 10,500 trees over the last five years to delivering workshops in communities and schools across the District, the Council is committed to promoting and embedding good practice. The delivery of the Biodiversity Strategy over the next five years will enable Fermanagh and Omagh District Council to bring the UN's vision of "living in harmony with nature by 2050" to life and support the aims and objectives in the Council's Climate Change and Sustainable Development Strategy and Corporate Plan and the Fermanagh and Omagh Community Plan 2030.