Diggers are tearing up part of a wildflower meadow at a church after Environment Minister Edwin Poots awarded it £100,000 to create a pollinator garden to honour the Queen.
Magheralin Parish Church in Co Down was chosen from seven applicants for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pollinator Garden Award.
Destruction of around a quarter of the existing naturally rewilded area has drawn criticism.
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Minister Poots revealed in a video shared on his department’s Twitter page in June that the Church of Ireland congregation will use the money to plant a “beautiful garden” with a wild area and seating for the community.
He said at the time the ‘Garden of Reflection’ will “attract bees, butterflies, wasps and moths to help pollinate the local flowers and garden life”. And highlighted how it would “encourage honeybees in particular”.
But the third of a hectare they planned to attract pollinators to was already covered in wildflowers, with footage showing bees and other insects buzzing around the plants already growing on the plot.
The award of the £100,000 grant to sow a wildflower meadow where one was already established has been criticised in recent days.
Young naturalist and celebrated author, Dara McAnulty, said on Twitter: “So here we have a situation - the destruction of an ACTUAL wildflower meadow to create... a wildflower meadow?!
He later told Belfast Live: “That money would fund an entire biodiversity project that would actually contribute to the dramatic losses we are experiencing.”
“£100,000 to turn a wildflower meadow into a wildflower meadow seems strange,” added Richard McMeekin.
Remarks about plans for the funding were followed by more adverse comment after diggers moved in to clear a quarter of the wildflowers already flourishing on the site in the height of summer.
Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland director, James Orr, told Belfast Live: “You couldn’t make this place up. Not content with turning a blind eye to widespread habitat destruction on a daily basis, this government is now wasting scarce and precious funds to wreck wild nature. And all of this in the name of environmental improvements!
“All that was needed was to cut the meadow once a year.
“The system has lost its integrity and the Minister is ecologically illiterate," he added. “He should apologise immediately for the loss of this habitat.
“We know many people and especially young people want to do what’s right for the earth and I hope they find the leadership from themselves because they won’t find it from this government and from this Minister.”
It’s understood a forest school that welcomes children from across Northern Ireland was among those who lost out on the grant.
Magheralin Church declined to comment on their plans, saying we needed to contact Live Here, Love Here.
A spokesperson for LHLH and Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful said: "The Jubilee Pollinator Garden award is intended to create a legacy project that the whole community can enjoy, while benefiting pollinators and educating visitors about their environmental importance and the role communities can play in biodiversity recovery.
"As part of the application process groups were asked to outline the ways in which their project would benefit pollinators. Other criteria included cross-community engagement and public access as well as creating an environmental education legacy. Applicants were required to supply detailed budgets and site plans, as well as commitments to match funding and ongoing maintenance.
"The Magheralin Parish project was selected to receive the grant following an extensive assessment and judging process by a Live Here Love Here panel that included biodiversity experts. The ecological value of the existing wildflower meadow formed a key part of the project plans from the outset.
"75% of the site will remain untouched apart from some mown paths through the meadow. The 25% to be developed as a more formal and fully accessible garden area is located on the fringe of the meadow adjacent to the churchyard. In this garden area significant investment will be made in perennial year-round planting with a focus on a wide variety of pollinator-friendly species.
"On awarding the grant to Magheralin Parish the judges were fully in agreement that the group’s excellent application will sympathetically enhance their existing site, protecting its ecological value for future generations at the same time as improving public access and providing reflective educational opportunities for the local community."
The Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs was asked if they took any advice from the experts behind the all-Island pollinator plan before awarding the grant. They have not yet responded to our request on Tuesday morning for a comment.
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