A new €25 million project to protect, conserve, and restore the biodiversity of Ireland’s marine ecosystems has been announced this week as part of ‘significant’ efforts to progress a “game-changing” new legislation for Marine Protected Areas across the country.

The funding – introduced under the MPA LIFE banner – was announced this week by Ireland’s Minister for Nature, Heritage, and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan TD and will be used to research and develop a comprehensive network of Marine Protected Areas across the country, in line with international best practice.

At a global level, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are recognised as an important tool to protect and conserve marine life and habitats. It’s also recognised that a well-managed network of MPAs can provide resilience against climate change while supporting fisheries, aquaculture, recreation, tourism, and facilitate the sustainable deployment of offshore renewable energy.

Additionally, each of these have been highlighted as ‘significant contributors’ to Ireland’s economy as well as being essential to many livelihoods – especially in coastal and island communities.

The fund has been announced as part of Ireland’s long-term commitment to achieve 30% MPA coverage by 2030 to protect biodiversity, aligning with the Programme for Government, EU strategy, and the related United Nations’ framework.

“I believe this country needs a comprehensive and modern process for the designation and effective management of Marine Protected Areas,” said Minister Noonan. “This is why we’ve been working on a bill that will combine robust strategic targets for marine environmental protection with real and meaningful stakeholder and public participation.”

Conceding that the publication of the bill has been “protracted” somewhat, Noonan has re-stated the ‘vital importance’ in getting the legal framework ‘absolutely right’ if Ireland is to have a “final piece of legislation which will be a game changer for marine protection.”

It’s anticipated that the Marine Protected Areas Bill will now be passed by the end of this year.

“We are all aware of the increasing environmental challenges and pressures on marine habitats,” continued Noonan. “This project will bring together local communities, environmental organisations, scientists, and industry to plan and develop our Marine Protected Areas. It will focus on getting a balance between ecological protection and socio-economic development.”

Throughout the creation of the framework, focus will be trained on a collaborative approach while all information and data created will be openly available to community, businesses, and other interested parties.

To date, Ireland has already reached one third of its goal to achieve 30% by 2030, with new Special Areas of Conservation in the northeast Atlantic and Special Protection Areas in the northwest Irish Sea and Seas off Wexford, together comprising almost 3.25 million hectares of marine waters.

While Noonan remains resolute that the full Bill will be readied and published by the Irish government before the end of 2024, not all share in his confidence.

The ocean conservation NGO, Fair Seas has challenged the Minister’s €25 million investment announcement as “putting the cart before the horse”, suggesting that while both vital and welcome, initiatives such as these need to, beforehand, be grounded and supported by strong MPA legislation to be as effective as possible.

Sorley McCaughey, a representative of the Fair Seas campaign, a coalition of environmental NGOs from across Ireland, said: “We welcome the MPA LIFE project as we welcome every effort to protect, conserve, and restore Ireland’s marine environment. It’s a vital piece of the MPA jigsaw that will provide outstanding protection for our seas and coastline. 

“However, we continue to have concerns that the MPA bill will not be published this year. Without legislation, we are in danger of adopting a piecemeal, ad hoc approach to marine conservation that will not achieve our goal of protecting our seas.

“We will continue to campaign to see this Bill introduced in the lifetime of this government, but we will also be working to ensure every political party includes a commitment to including MPA legislation in its election manifesto and we will be ready to make sure this is reflected in any new programme for government.”

When passed, Ireland’s promised Marine Protected Areas Bill will set out to provide a national Ocean Environment Policy Statement, setting both national and international objectives for the protection, preservation, and restoration of both species and habitats.

It will also curate a Marine Features List in which species, habitats, ecosystems, and ecosystem services suitable for protection will all be defined. This list will cover threatened and declining species including Basking sharks, Porbeagle sharks, and Angel sharks, alongside Rays and skates and all other features identified. 

The development of this list will include consultation with the public, community and stakeholder groups, government departments, and marine science experts.

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