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Investing in Northern Ireland's natural environment is a vital part of the economic recovery from Covid-19, a leading conservation charity has said.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said the pandemic was a reminder the economy and wider society depend on the natural environment.

It has drawn up a five-point plan to achieve that and says it can deliver jobs.

Proposals include legislation on climate change and biodiversity loss.

There is also a commitment to a so-called "green recovery" by the NI Executive.

The charity said it had a series of shovel-ready projects which could help restore nature and create jobs.

These included things such as climate change mitigation, species recovery and habitat restoration.

"We need to seize this opportunity to deliver a green recovery and build a more resilient economy, with healthy communities and a thriving natural world at its heart," said RSPB NI chief executive Joanne Sherwood.

"Decisions taken now will have a major impact for many years to come, so we must embrace the idea of a green recovery and lay the foundations for the greater prosperity and improved well-being of Northern Ireland and our future generations."

The charity wants the executive to develop a so-called green recovery fund to allow conservation charities to work on landscape-scale nature projects.

It believes that could ultimately deliver 2,000 jobs, help store carbon worth £1bn and provide widespread economic benefits.