Biodiversity Northern Ireland - It's in our nature

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Local Nature Reserves

Local Nature Reserves

Local Nature Reserves, or LNRs for short,
are areas that have been specially set aside
for biodiversity and where people can
enjoy wildlife.

In contrast to other designated sites such as national nature reserves, which tend to be areas with high importance for plants and animals, or with features of great geological interest, LNRs do not have to contain rare or threatened species or habitats - they are usually areas with good wildlife content which are accessible to people and provide them with opportunities to be close to wildlife. Hence, many LNRs lie within, or close to, urban areas.

Local Nature Reserves are very much what their name suggests - sites where the principle objective is nature conservation, but where local people can have easy access and be involved, for example, in practical conservation measures taken on site.

Bay Road Park

Balloo Wood

Driving through Balloo industrial estate south of Bangor, and following road signs for a recycling depot, you begin to feel that all wildlife has long since fled the area. So it is with some surprise that you encounter in the midst of commercial premises, Balloo Wood Nature Reserve.

Balloo Wetlands

Just off the Balloo Road in Bangor, but hidden from the main thoroughfare, lies Balloo Wetlands. The character is very different from Balloo Woodland Local Nature Reserve, and is mainly open water fringed by marsh.

Ballyaghagan Local Nature Reserve

Ballyaghagan Local Nature Reserve, which lies adjacent to the Upper Hightown Road car park, consists simply of nine or ten fields on either side of the main path. Those on the right slope downhill in the direction of Carr's Glen, while those on the left lead on to the uplands of Cave Hill.

City Park, Craigavon

Craigavon City Park is the place to go if you're into walking, cycling, jogging or dog walking. There are well-marked, surfaced trails throughout the 180 hectares of parkland that surround the two artificial balancing lakes, including a three kilometre perimeter cycle path.

Clement's Wood

Off the main A8 between Belfast and Larne, at the junction with the Ballygowan Road, lies Clements' Wood. It is owned by the Woodland Trust, which bought the 10 acre site in 2000 from a local farmer, whose grandfather, Clements, once farmed the land.

Cranny Falls

When I am driving northwards along the Antrim Coast Road I usually pass through Carnlough without stopping. But that, as I have now discovered, is a mistake. It is well worth taking time out to explore Carnlough and its surroundings, not least for the gem of a Local Nature Reserve secreted away above the town.

Lagan Meadows

Lagan Meadows nestles alongside the River Lagan, close to the south Belfast suburbs of Stranmillis and Lockview - truly a piece of countryside within the city. It is a beautiful place all year round, and each season has its own highlights: glades of wild flowers in spring, butterflies and damselflies in summer, tree colour and fungi in autumn, and frosty fields and redwings in winter.

Slantry Wood

Most of trees at Slantry were planted in the 1960s on what was once agricultural land. The species mix includes poplar, sycamore and oak. Some of the ground is quite damp, creating habitat known as wet woodland, where willow and alder are dominant.