Belfast Lough Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar)

Description

Belfast Lough (Irish: Loch Lao / Loch Laoigh) is a large, natural intertidal sea lough situated at the mouth of the River Lagan on the east coast of Northern Ireland. The inner part of the lough comprises a series of mudflats and lagoons. The outer lough is restricted to mainly rocky shores with some small sandy bays. Belfast Lough is the gateway for Belfast to the Irish Sea.

Belfast Lough is a long, wide and deep expanse of water, virtually free of strong tides, lying between Orlock Point and Blackhead, extending westwards to the Port of Belfast. It is ideal as a stopping-off point on Irish Sea passages. For racing sailors, this is a competitor's dream, giving 30 square miles (78 km2) of open water and enough coastline to make short inshore races day long affairs. Three main arteries serve the lough close to Belfast: the Herdman Channel on the County Antrim coast side; the Victoria Channel, the central and longest route; and the Musgrave Channel on the County Down side.

Coastal towns include Holywood, Bangor and Carrickfergus. Holywood and Bangor are situated on the southern side of the lough in Down, whilst Carrickfergus, which boasts a 12th-century Norman castle, is on the northern side in Antrim. On older maps of Ireland, made before Belfast grew to be a city, the lough was referred to as Carrickfergus Bay.

Popular for sailing, the lough has two marinas: one at Bangor, the other located in Carrickfegus. Belfast docks at the head of a lough contain the famous shipbuilder of the RMS Titanic fame, Harland & Wolff, is no longer building ships for the foreseeable future and has shed most of its workforce and diversified into repairing and refitting large tankers and oilrigs. Coastguard offices for the lough, although referred to as Belfast Coastguard, are located in the town of Bangor by the marina. In 1912, the RMS Titanic sailed down the lough from Belfast to the Irish Sea for her sea trials.

The lough hosts two Royal Yacht Clubs. One at Cultra just outside Holywood, The Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club, and the Royal Ulster based from Bangor. There are also several other clubs spread around the lough: Ballyholme Yacht Club, Carrickfergus Sailing Club, Cockle Island Boat Club, County Antrim Yacht Club, Donaghadee Sailing Club and Holywood Yacht Club

The reserve is situated within the Belfast Harbour Estate on the shores of Belfast Lough. The RSPB manages some mudflats in Belfast Lough, together with an area of grassland with a pool and ditch complex near Belfast City Airport, and a lagoon with a hide and viewpoints. The mudflats are important feeding areas for a variety of wading birds and wildfowl. At high tide, flocks of wading birds, such as Redshank, Oystercatchers and Black-tailed Godwits, can be seen from the hide and viewing points.

The Belfast Lough Ramsar site (wetlands of international importance designated under the Ramsar Convention), is 432.14 hectares in area, at Latitude 54 38 00 N and Longitude 05 54 00 W. It was designated a Ramsar site on 5 August 1998. The site contains the inner part of the lough including areas of intertidal foreshore, consisting of mudflats and lagoons, and land, both reclaimed and being reclaimed, which form important feeding/roosting sites for significant numbers of wintering waders and wildfowl. The outer lough is restricted to mainly rocky shores with some small sandy bays and beach-head salt marsh.

In the outer lough, the Ramsar boundary entirely coincides with that of Outer Belfast Lough Area of Special Scientific Interest but within the immediate harbour area the boundary has been redrawn to take into account permitted port related development and landfill which has taken place since the Inner Belfast Lough Area of Special Scientific Interest was declared in 1987. Marine areas below mean low water are not included. The Ramsar boundary entirely coincides with that of the Belfast Lough Special Protection Area. The site qualifies under Criterion 3c of the Ramsar Convention by regularly supporting internationally important numbers of Common Redshank in winter. The site also regularly supports nationally important numbers of Common Shelduck, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Purple Sandpiper, Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit, Bar-tailed Godwit, Eurasian Curlew and Ruddy Turnstone.

Coordinates: 54°41′28″N 5°47′06″W / 54.691°N 5.785°W / 54.691; -5.785