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One of Northern Ireland’s most popular public beauty spots is set to be expanded by 600 acres under a new £6m investment scheme.
The National Trust has purchased additional land on the Divis and Black Mountain estates in the Belfast Hills.
The aim is to increase public access to the entire site and open the new site by 2025.
The plans include the development of new trails, tree planting, tourist hubs, cafes and exhibition spaces.
The National Trust said the plans would transform Divis and the Black Mountains into one of the most accessible urban green spaces in the UK and Ireland.
Peatland and blanket bog areas will be restored, while an oral history project is also planned to document the experiences of 30 people who lived around the mountain.
The three-year project is supported by funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund (£3m), the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (£548,000) and the Garfield Weston Foundation (£300,000).
National Trust director Heather McLachlan said the funding would help make the region fully inclusive.
“We want to be a place where everyone feels like they belong and we will achieve this by working with local communities, who are at the heart of our work.”
While the existing trail is open to the public, the newly acquired land is still being cultivated and is therefore closed to the public.
The plan is for the National Trust to take over full management of the land and aim to open in 2025.
In the 20 years since the charity began looking after Divis and the Black Mountains, hundreds of acres of moorland and heathland have been opened to the public.
Volunteers worked with National Trust staff to remove rubbish, create a path to protect the area and support nature’s recovery through tree planting.
Funding for the initial purchase by the National Trust came from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, which also supports new developments.
Dr Paul Mullan, the fund’s director for Northern Ireland, said the donation was one of its most “significant investments”, adding that the project would make a “significant difference” to the region.
Divis and the Black Mountains are home to a wide range of wildlife, including highland breeding birds and priority species such as the Irish hare.
Many of the plants found there are also protected or environmentally important, such as the sphagnum moss that forms peat.
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