The Government has approved development of a general scheme of a Bill for designation and management of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Ireland’s maritime territory.
The approval has been welcomed by Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O’Brien, who is responsible for marine planning, and Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform Malcolm Noonan.
“As an island nation, our seas and our ocean are absolutely crucial for Ireland,” Mr O’Brien said.
“They support our economy, inward and outward trade, our energy supply and communications systems, as well as our climate, our environment, our cultural traditions and heritage, our health and well-being,” he said.
“As an island nation, our seas and our ocean are absolutely crucial for Ireland”
“In order to ensure that our seas remain clean, healthy and productive, and our unique habitats and biodiversity are protected, we are committed to designating a network of up to 30% of our maritime area as MPAs by 2030,” he said.
Mr Noonan described the development of the legislation as “an important milestone as we work to progress Ireland’s network of MPAs”.
“ It will provide us with strong powers to help address the twin environmental crises of biodiversity loss and climate change by protecting and conserving the marine ecosystems that underpin the essential and multifaceted services that coastal communities and wider society depend on, such as fishing, tourism, cultural heritage, climate regulation and resilience to environmental change,”Mr Noonan said.
“In the context of energy security and the ramping up of Ireland’s offshore renewable energy ambitions, it’s all the more important that we work at pace to deliver on our commitment to meeting both biodiversity and climate objectives,” he said.
The legislation will provide for the identification, designation, regulation, management, enforcement and review of MPAs, ensuring that they form a coherent, connected, representative and climate-resilient network.
It aims to make key provisions for public and stakeholder participation and engagement in relation to the MPA process.
It will also make provisions for implementation and enforcement structures and will be designed to work in parallel with the Maritime Area Planning Act 2021 and existing legal protection measures under the Wildlife Acts and the EU Birds and Habitats Directives.
The ministers said it is intended that the heads of the Bill will be brought to Government for approval “as soon as possible”, with work on drafting and enacting the primary MPA legislation “expected to follow thereafter”.