TV’s Packham to visit Murlough as part of UK-wide healthcheck

TV’s Packham to visit Murlough as part of UK-wide healthcheck

11 July 2018

MURLOUGH National Nature Reserve is to get a ‘healthcheck’ by a team headed up by TV presenter and naturalist Chris Packham.

Chris is visiting Murlough on Monday, together with four other sites in Northern Ireland, as part of a ten-day UK Bioblitz tour to highlight the extent to which the UK’s wildlife is under threat.

A Bioblitz is an event where scientists, naturalists and members of the public work together to find as many species as possible within a set location and over a defined time period.

Visitors are invited to come along to lend a hand with recording as much wildlife as possible as well as joining one of the expert-led walks and talks on Sunday and Monday, July 15 -16.

The first Bioblitz carried out in 2015 collected 1,649 records and recorded 844 species in the National Trust managed area.

Chris said that the Bioblitz will allow the team to compare the rise and fall of previous records and get a sense of the health of the natural environment.

“I want the 2018 UK Bioblitz Campaign to be a detailed and complete wildlife audit, a ten day snapshot of the state of our wild places and what lives there,” he added.

“It will celebrate some conservation successes but also reveal some of its failures. It will show that nature reserves are not enough and it will prove we need a healthier wider environment, a healthier countryside.”

Murlough National Nature Reserve is a fragile 6,000-year old sand dune system owned by the National Trust. It was the first nature reserve on the island of Ireland. 

Anyone wishing to attend the event is advised to access the reserve at Keel Point (Dundrum side) to register at the Stables near Murlough House. Please note that normal charges will apply and parking maybe limited.

For more details on the event visit https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/murlough-national-nature-reserve or @MurloughNT on Facebook.