Mount Stewart: Renowned gardens already affected by climate change

Mount Stewart has some of Northern Ireland's most beautiful gardens but they could be under threat

Climate change is already affecting one of Northern Ireland's best-known National Trust sites, with the charity calling for action to tackle it.

There are plans to move part of the grounds in Mount Stewart, on the Ards Peninsula in County Down, in response to forecasted changes.

Mount Stewart is renowned for its gardens and historic house.

However modelling suggests it is very likely some of those gardens will be slowly flooded in the next 100 years.

The charity's climate and science adviser Seán Maxwell said Mount Stewart would "not look like it does now" in a century.

The National Trust said there was a "clear legislative gap" on climate adaptation in Northern Ireland.

Changing to adapt

It has published a report - A Climate for Change - which highlights the importance of adapting buildings, coastlines and countryside to cope with the impacts of climate change.

It is calling for accelerated action so sites like Mount Stewart can be better protected.

Mr Maxwell said plants that were more resilient to windy and salty conditions would be introduced to adapt the Mount Stewart's gardens to changing weather patterns and rising water levels in Strangford Lough.

He said the trust had put weather monitors in place to "establish the microclimates we're dealing with" and better understand how climate change affects the gardens.

Trees and plants in the gardens have already been damaged by "increasing storm intensity", said Mike Buffin, Mount Stewart's head gardener.

Mount Stewart is home to protected species such as the red squirrel

"Winds bring salt spray which can burn off some of the more tender plants," he said.

"As climate change is already having an impact - we have to adapt.

"Over time we'll create a new garden in the spirit of the existing Formal Gardens, further into the estate.

"We're using trigger points, such as storm events, to guide our decisions, and propagate significant at-risk plants so they can be planted in a new, safer location."

The charity wants action on climate change adaptation, which it has said is not happening at the speed or scale required.

"A series of legislative and policy changes to accelerate action on climate adaptation in Northern Ireland is needed and needed now," said chief executive Heather MacLachlan.

"We look forward to discussing these with local decision makers and hope that they can bring leadership to this issue and help us become a climate resilient society."