Latest Environment stories and videos

Scientists have found the strain of blight which they believe triggered the Irish potato famine.

The Hillsborough Garden Festival opened on Friday in full bloom in all new surroundings.

Northern Ireland's beaches were the most littered in the UK last year.

The River Foyle is known for its rich maritime history, but traditional Irish boats curraghs have never been launched on it - until now.

Power has been restored to almost 800 homes in Saintfield, Co Down.

Veterinary scientists in the Republic are examining the possibility that bird flu may have killed over 30 swans at a Co Donegal lake.

A Limavady potato farmer has blamed recent radical changes in the weather for sending the price of a spud soaring and has claimed there are "no potatoes left in Northern Ireland".

One of the rarest wildlife species in Northern Ireland, the pine marten, may be facing extinction in the Mourne Mountains of Co Down.

The green light has been given for the former Armagh Gaol to be turned into a four star luxury hotel.

The derelict site of a former hotel in Portstewart has been demolished, after lying empty for many years.

Stores are reporting a sharp drop in requests for plastic bags three weeks after the introduction of a five pence levy in Northern Ireland.

More money has been provided by the Executive to rejuvenate Enniskillen town centre ahead of the G8 summit this summer.

Archaeologists hope the first ever public dig on Divis Mountain could reveal more about the history of the site.

The Department for Regional Development has paid out nearly £800,000 to landowners in advance of the A5 road project, which was scrapped this month after a High Court ruling.

Local schoolchildren are getting their hands dirty by digging up Divis Mountain as part of a community archaeology project.

First Minister Peter Robinson has dismissed claims the Maze redevelopment will become a terrorist shrine as "scaremongering garbage".

The First and deputy First Ministers have welcomed the decision to grant planning permission for a Peace Building and Conflict Resolution Centre at the former Maze prison.

Rescue teams have assisted a mountain runner who got into difficulties close to the summit of Slievenaglogh in Co Down.

A woman who died 600 years ago at a crannog near Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh could have been the victim of foul play, a leading archaeologist has revealed.

Belfast City Hall was lit up in spectacular colours on Thursday night, thanks to a new environmentally friendly lighting system.

UTV presenter Rita Fitzgerald has officially launched the 2013 Airtricity Garden Festival, with the help of her two-year-old daughter Ellie.

Shoppers in Northern Ireland now have to pay 5p at the tills for a plastic bag.

Police in Bangor are trialling the PSNI's first ever electric car.

A plastic bag tax, which means shoppers in Northern Ireland will pay 5p for a carrier bag, comes into effect on Monday.

A decision to block two brothers' plan to build a multi-million pound renewable energy wind farm in the Sperrin Mountains was legally flawed, a High Court judge has ruled.

Garden centres have been left in the cold as trade is predicted to be down by as much 20% in the crucial spring period, a garden industry group has claimed.

Northern Ireland could be about to discover its very own "little Pompeii", after initial funding for an ambitious archaeological project was secured.

Seventeen care home patients and a number of local residents have been evacuated due to a risk of landslide in Dromore, Co Down.

The water quality at Newcastle beach is some of the worst in Europe, according to the latest Marine Conservation Society survey.

Farmers have told UTV they fear tens of thousands of animals may have died as a result of the heavy snowfall across Northern Ireland.

Construction work on a new £330m dual carriageway project was delayed on Wednesday as road authorities seek a stay on an order quashing the decision to press ahead with the scheme.

Supermarket chain Tesco has revealed that it is doubling the amount of fresh beef, pork and chicken sourced from Northern Ireland farmers.

The Environment Minister, Alex Attwood, has revealed that £500k of funding has been designated to the regeneration of coastal communities in NI.

Hightown Quarry near Mallusk, Co Antrim, has emerged as the preferred site for a new waste incinerator.

High levels of air pollution are being monitored in Belfast.