Mourne Park: The Woodland Trust buys ancient woodland

The public is to get access to an ancient woodland which has been in private ownership for more than 500 years.

One hundred and fifty six hectares of Mourne Park outside Kilkeel has been bought by the Woodland Trust.

It plans to open the forest to the public in 2022 after preparatory work has been completed.

Mourne Park has been owned by the Anley Family for five centuries.

Almost half the forest meets the criteria for ancient woodland, one of Northern Ireland's scarcest habitats.

It is defined as an area which has been under constant tree cover since the 1600s.

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Ancient woodland covers just 0.04% of Northern Ireland.

The Woodland Trust bought the site with the help of money from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, a charitable grant-making foundation and its own funds, spending more than £1.5m.

"We are so excited to add Mourne Park, which is an incredibly special place, to our estate," said director Ian McCurley.

"There are 73 hectares of precious ancient woodland in Mourne Park alone, which is phenomenal to find in Northern Ireland as it is so rare."

The trust has been already been working in partnership with the Anley family to manage the ancient woodland on the site for the past three years.

"After much soul searching, we feel that the Woodland Trust are better placed than us in taking the woodland management forward," said brother and sister Bonnie and Philip Anley.

The Environment Minister Edwin Poots said he was delighted to be able to support the venture.

He said it would help protect and enhance the existing rare habitat and add to overall tree cover with an extensive programme of planting.