Biodiversity
Biodiversity
What is biodiversity?
Biodiversity is the total variety of all living things on Earth. It includes everything from our tallest trees and largest mammals, to our smallest flowers and minute insects and the habitats they live in. It also includes genetic differences within a single species and the complex ecosystems they are part of.
Why conserve it?
Biodiversity is central to all life on Earth. By having a rich array of biodiversity we have a healthy environment that provides air to breathe, water to drink and food to eat. A healthy environment is essential for healthy people, both in body and in mind.
Biodiversity also provides the raw materials for things like clothes and medicine, and with many species still to be discovered with unknown potential it is essential they are protected.
Biodiversity is also an important part of our cultural heritage. Our artists and poets, such as W.F. Marshall, captured the natural environment in their work and we should conserve and enhance it for future generations to continue to do so.
Omagh Local Biodiversity Action Plan
Working in partnership with Ulster Wildlife Trust and the Omagh Biodiversity Steering Group, we aim to conserve and enhance Omagh’s rich wildlife now and for the future. We have developed Habitat Action Plans (HAP’s) and Species Action Plans (SAP’s) as part of the Omagh Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP), which will deliver ‘real’ biodiversity gains for Omagh.
The plans aim to tackle biodiversity loss in the immediate future, but also create sustainable partnerships that will ensure our wildlife is safeguarded in the longer term. This is a key task towards achieving Omagh District Council’s mission to make the district a prosperous, healthy, sustainable and quality place in which to live and work.
To download a copy of the Omagh Local Biodiversity Action Plan click here or download from the following website www.ulsterwildlifetrust.org
Omagh’s Biodiversity
Omagh is rich in wildlife throughout the district, characterised by its lowland raised bogs and wetlands, numerous river corridors, tributaries, small lakes and upland hillsides of heathland, blanket bog and coniferous forests.
The drumlin lowland landscape of Omagh Farmland, surrounding Omagh town, is unique to the district. The broad basin of rolling hills is interspersed with a rich tapestry of lowland raised bog and winding tributaries, rich in bog plants such as sundew and bogbean, insects such as moths and butterflies and birdlife including the rare and wonderful lapwing and curlew.
In the north and east of the district, the Sperrin Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty protrudes south. This area taking in Bessy Bell and Gortin, South Sperrin, Beaghmore Moors and Marsh and the Carrickmore Hills holds great diversity of wildlife due to the intricate mosaic of heathland and rush pasture, home to the Irish hare, Hen harriers, red grouse and otters along the river valleys.
To the west of Omagh town, the Fairy Water Valley is home to an international wetland Ramsar site, Fairy Water Bogs. These hold great importance for Omagh’s breeding waders, lapwings, curlews, snipe and redshank, as well as many specialised bog plants such as round-leaved sundew and many sedges. This valley is overlooked by the rounded moorland summits of Lough Bradan and Pigeon Top, important upland habitats for many birds such as the red listed species, twite, which has only recently been recorded in Omagh.
Omagh’s rivers are a vital source of life for many species, however the Owenkillew holds special value as a Special Area of Conservation for salmon, otter and the rare but intriguing freshwater pearl mussel. This mollusc is threatened due to its slow growing nature and reliance on clean, undisturbed river beds and healthy salmon populations.
Get involved in your Local Action Plan
Omagh LBAP Partnership
Twice a year the partnership meets to hear more about Omagh’s Biodiversity and help in shaping their LBAP. This is an open forum and anyone can join! All partnership gatherings are advertised in the local press and will appear on our latest news. As this is a LOCAL Biodiversity Action Plan, we intend to hold each partnership meeting in a different local village or community. The aim is to take the partnership throughout the district so they can learn about all of Omagh’s biodiversity and to engage as many extra local people as possible over the next few years. If you want to join the partnership just email me your contact details and I will inform you of the next meeting and any other events or news.
Real action
You can also get directly involved by coordinating a local project. If you are a constituted group, business or organisation, you could create your own biodiversity project and help implement the Omagh LBAP. Or if you are coordinating an event that you would like me to attend please get in touch.
Watch your local wildlife!
There are many other ways you can get involved, but perhaps one of the easiest and most effective ways of helping me is to get out into the countryside and record what you see. From red squirrels to otters and bats, to many birds, I want to know more about Omagh’s wildlife. What it is you saw, where you saw it and what it was doing! And don’t forget about the little things too; if you have a flower identification book, take a closer look at your hedgerows, bogs and any woods you have access to. Think seasonal as well! In the summer look out for butterflies, bees and dragonflies. In the autumn there is an array of fungi to find and identify and in the winter watch out for and help our hungry garden birds such as the song thrush. The spring marks the birth and re-growth of many species but keep your eyes peeled for frogspawn, newts, many wildflowers and listen out for the first cuckoo call.
To download a copy of the Omagh Local Biodiversity Action Plan click here or download from the following website www.ulsterwildlifetrust.org
Useful contacts
Contact: Biodiversity Officer, Environmental Health Department, Omagh District Council, Lisnamallard House, Old Mountfield Road, Omagh, Co. Tyrone, BT79 7EG
Telpehone: 028 82256202
Email: eh@omagh.gov.uk
Useful websites
www.dardni.gov.uk/index/countryside
www.rspb.org.uk
