To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to outline his Department’s communication plans on biodiversity and protected areas to educate and raise public awareness on the importance of biodiversity which is easily eroded.

My Department will be delivering a nature engagement plan in preparation for COP15, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), in October 2021 in Kunming, China. We will focus on explaining biodiversity, our special protected areas, and habitats and species, and role in providing nature-based solutions and ecosystem services. This will provide an opportunity to increase the visibility of the emerging post-2020 global biodiversity targets, and how they inform the development of the new post-2020 Northern Ireland Biodiversity Strategy.

We are rolling out our ‘Northern Ireland Climate Action’ campaign with the aim of raising climate awareness, encouraging change, enabling action, and exemplifying through leadership. The campaign went live on 5 March, its primary focus is on the theme of Nature, with biodiversity content and messaging contributing a significant element.

Officials already make good use of our digital channels, including DAERA twitter and MyNI to promote terrestrial and marine biodiversity, protected areas and species, and the importance of restoration.