Inch Levels-Lough Foyle – Wildlife Programme
Project: Inch Levels Lough Foyle Project
Lead Council: Donegal County Council
Partners: North West Region Cross Border Group (Lead Partner) Donegal County Council (Lead Council) and Limavady Borough Council
Time Frame: 01 January12 - 01 January15
Grant Awarded: €839,880
The Inch Levels and Lough Foyle Wildfowl Project aims to strengthen the North West region’s unique selling point as an unrivalled natural tourism destination.
A primary focus of the project is to grow inbound visitor numbers through developing the cultural, biodiversity and heritage strengths of two outstanding natural sites. Marketing will target ecotourism and other similar visitor markets domestically and internationally.
Both the Inch Levels and Lough Foyle sites share many common attributes however their development needs vary in terms of scale, visitor usage, accessibility, infrastructure and awareness. The sites by their very nature are environmentally sensitive and an overwintering refuge for many protected species, and as such great care has been taken in the planning, design and carrying out of any work.
At the Inch Levels site, a new car park, boardwalk and pathways have been installed to allow visitors to access and experience at first hand the unique semi aquatic environments of the area. The work will enable visitors uninterrupted, off road walks of almost 8km around the scenic Inch Lake.
At the Lough Foyle site, a pedestrian footbridge has been constructed across the Burnfoot canal. Access improvements have opened up almost 10km of trail which stretches along the picturesque route between the Ballykelly Bank and Roe Estuary.
Interpretative signage has been erected at both sites along with sensitively designed bird hides and viewing points along the routes.
Marketing is ongoing with a new beautifully photographed guide now available which includes trail maps, interesting facts and helpful hints about what can be seen from the best viewpoints, including attractions to look out for such as birds of prey and other woodland and grassland species of bird, flora and fauna.
An education and biodiversity programme was run in collaboration with local schools wherebirds were tracked through GPS devices; this allowed for monitoring of their flight paths throughout the year. The project provided education packs to the schools involved.
This project will establish two outstanding areas of natural beauty as world-class biodiversity sites and tourist attractions, further consolidating the North West’s offer as a prime location for outdoor and eco-tourism.