Visualising Northern Ireland’s Natural Heritage

Belfast Photo Festival Awarded £140K Grant by The National Lottery Heritage Fund

Thanks to National Lottery players, four photographers worked with conservation groups and local communities on a new natural heritage project highlighting themes including Lough Neagh, peatland, marine areas and the wider Belfast Hills. The new narratives and co-curated images were showcased and discussed at exhibitions and events at the Belfast Photo Festival and across Northern Ireland in June 2025. 

“We are commissioning four amazing photographers to explore and address a crucial gap in awareness around the most important environmental stories in Ireland. Co-designed with our expert partners this is a rare and urgent collaboration between the arts, creativity, conservation and science with an enormous opportunity for public engagement and lasting impact.” - Toby Smith, Director of Development at Belfast Photo Festival

“Thanks to National Lottery players we’re pleased to be able to back this creative project which explores our changing climate. Photographers, conservation organisations, and local people, will collaborate to produce a snapshot of Northern Ireland’s natural heritage.We’re committed to ensuring that digital heritage projects are open, accessible and discoverable. The legacy of Belfast Photo Festival’s project is that over 500 digital images of our natural heritage will be posted within a free, open-access digital image library.” - Dr Paul Mullan, Northern Ireland Director at The National Lottery Heritage Fund