The EU-funded CANN project is a cross-border initiative that aims to improve the condition of protected habitats and support priority species in Northern Ireland and the border region of Ireland and Western Scotland.
- 29 January 2020
This important new project will help raise awareness among cross-border communities about the potential threats to the natural habitats and endangered species in their area. It is through effective cross-border collaboration that we can best protect, improve, restore, and sustain the threatened habitats and species in our shared regions.
The project will play an important role in enabling the region to meet key EU biodiversity targets and ensuring the future of these internationally important habitats and species.
Conservation Action Plans
CANN project researchers have produced customised conservation action plans for a range of sites previously designated as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs). The goal of these plans is to help guide the habitats and species towards favourable conservation status.
Out of the over 25 000 hectares of SAC land in the region, this project will develop 27 conservation action plans and conduct habitat improvement actions covering 3 650 hectares. These areas include a range of ecosystems with alkaline fens, blanket bog, active raised bog, marl lakes, calcareous fens, petrifying springs, and transition mires/quaking bogs. The SACs are home to a number of unique species, including the white-clawed crayfish, hen harrier, marsh fritillary, breeding waders (curlew, redshank, snipe), golden plover, corncrake, and red grouse.
Raising awareness
The project brings together government departments, local authorities, research institutions, charities, local communities, and stakeholders to work together to improve the environmental conditions of these fragile lands. The project team regularly delivers educational and outreach programmes that raise awareness about the significance of the SACs and teach how everyone can play a role in protecting them. This outreach is key to ensuring the conservation of these sites after the project’s end.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Collaborative Action for the Natura Network (CANN)” is EUR 9 406 312, with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 7 995 366 through the “Interreg V-A - United Kingdom-Ireland (Ireland-Northern Ireland-Scotland)” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. The investment falls under the priority “Environment”.