WEST Belfast nature expert Aaron Kelly is set to teach young and old across the city about the nature on their doorstep with a new documentary produced by Bayview Media with the support of Live Here Love Here and the Upper Springfield Resource Centre.
 
The 23-minute documentary was filmed over three years and includes a wealth of footage shot in the hills overlooking West Belfast as Aaron outlines the ecological significance of some important species, including long eared owls, lizards, and hen harriers.
 
Aaron, heads up the Black Mountain Wilding Rewilding Project, which recently won the Guardian of the Environment Award at the prestigious Aisling Awards. The group was also awarded the West Belfast Partnership's Environment Award earlier this year. He is also set to take part in a new BBC documentary in the New Year.

Speaking after the launch of 'Treasures of the Hills', Aaron told the Andersonstown News that he hopes the new video will give people a renewed sense of appreciation for the nature on their doorstep.
 
“When I was in school, we only learned about wildlife outside of Ireland, so the aim of this film is to show people around here that they don’t have to travel far to see it," he said.
 
“It's more than just a hill up there and I hope it makes people think twice about how they treat it."

Aaron told us that the film is the culmination of years of walking in the hills and installing trail cameras which captured the breadth of the wildlife on the mountains.
 
“It was a lot of nights spent watching and waiting as I was looking for owls or days spent up in the mountain waiting on the harriers.
 
“And there's a really great contribution from a lot of other people. We had a lot of wildlife photographers who gave me a hand to film the animals and in total it was about three years in the making.
 
“We had so much footage that we could have made it a lot longer."

Aaron said that he has been surprised by the amount of people who have told him that they had been walking in the hills for years yet had no idea what animals lived there.
 
“I am hoping that not only will the video reach local kids, but that it gives adults a new appreciation of the hills. I don’t think people realise how much of a gem we have up there.
 
“I work for Ulster Wildlife and used to work across 19 nature reserves, but the hills up there are my favourite.”
 
Aaron offered his thanks to everyone who helped – particularly the volunteers with the Black Mountain Rewilding Project, saying that he hopes the video will demonstrate how important their work is.