Cooperation Across Borders for Biodiversity (CABB)

Cooperation Across Borders for Biodiversity – or CABB - was a project provided with funding of almost €5 million by INTERREG VA, under the theme of Environment. 

CABB was a six-partner conservation project focusing on the habitats of birds, butterflies and plants across Northern Ireland, Ireland and the west coast of Scotland. Over the course of five years, the project created Conservation Action Plans for eight Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas. Work was carried out on the restoration of more than 3,000 hectares of blanket bog which had the added impact of safeguarding almost 900 pairs of birds. 

Thanks to the sustainable land management of these blanket bogs, CABB sites now safely store 4.5 million tonnes of carbon and avoid around 54,000 tonnes of emissions per year and so help to mitigate against climate change. The blanket bog restoration works have also helped filter raw water that will be treated to become suitable for drinking. In turn, this will reduce the cost of water treatment and cost to the consumer. The benefits for biodiversity are the results of a real and practical ecosystem services approach. 

As a typical INTERREG VA project, CABB featured collaboration with many partners. The RSPB Northern Ireland, BirdWatch Ireland, RSPB Scotland, Northern Ireland Water, Butterfly Conservation and Moors for the Future Partnership all worked together to ensure this project met its targets. Each partner was able to share experiences, best practice and data so they could all work together more effectively in the future. Theproject trained volunteers to help with land surveys and all the partners worked with farmers and landowners to secure the future of bird species including the curlew, lapwing, redshank and snipe.