Earl ‘would like’ to transfer Lough Neagh ownership
![BBC Earl of Shaftesbury Nicolas Ashley-Cooper](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/d07b/live/2f3d21b0-3168-11ef-b944-45da5aaf3fa8.jpg.webp)
The Earl of Shaftesbury has said he would like to transfer his estate’s ownership of Lough Neagh “into a charity or community trust model, with rights of nature included”.
But Nicholas Ashley-Cooper, said the proposal “may take time”.
It comes as the Lough Neagh Report is due to come before the Stormont Executive again later next week.
Writing on the online platform Substack, the earl said he felt he was “an easy target and a useful excuse for failings in proper governance”.
The Shaftesbury Estate owns the bed of Lough Neagh and the earl has previously said he was willing to explore options.
‘No entity who can improve health of lough’
Following the blue-green algal crisis of Summer 2023, there have been calls to transfer the Lough to public ownership in Northern Ireland.
But in his article, the earl asks “to whom?”.
He added there is “currently no entity that is offering to take it or who can guarantee to improve the environmental health of the lough.”
While the Shaftesbury Estate holds the rights to the bed of the Lough, five companies have been granted licences to extract sand for which they pay a royalty to the estate.
The earl acknowledged that “unauthorised and therefore completely unregulated and illegal sand extraction” had been taking place for a number of years.
He said the estate had made “repeated attempts” to try to stop it.
![PA Media Algae on the surface of Lough Neagh](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/94e0/live/77607f60-3167-11ef-b944-45da5aaf3fa8.jpg.webp)
Nicholas Ashley-Cooper said the Estate’s Lough Neagh Ltd. company “has no control” over the water in the Lough and the nutrients that go into it.
He added that “collective action” was needed to find solutions to the issues facing the lough.
The earl describes the current situation of Lough Neagh as “deeply upsetting” and added that a charity or community trust model with rights of nature included as possibly “the best way” to support the Lough’s long-term future.
What are Rights of Nature?
![Getty Images Landscape photo of countryside with the sun rising](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/b4a8/live/abdc3530-3168-11ef-b944-45da5aaf3fa8.jpg.webp)
Rights of Nature is a legal theory that seeks to grant rights to elements of nature to protect them from harm and allow them to flourish.
In the Republic of Ireland, the government has been asked to consider a referendum on the issue.
It is understood that the Lough Neagh Report commissioned by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs does not examine ownership of the Lough as part of the immediate solutions required.
The Executive discussed the report in its most recent meeting, and minister Andrew Muir has urged ministerial colleagues to approve it at the next meeting.