More marine protected areas will ease pressure on Irish seas

By 2030, 30 per cent of Ireland’s marine areas will be deemed marine protected areas (MPAs) in a bid to tackle the pressures on the country’s marine environments, according to new measures aimed at improving the health of Ireland’s seas.

The formal programme of measures is set to be announced on Monday by Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O’Brien and Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform Malcolm Noonan in a bid to tackle pollution, biodiversity loss and climate impact.

Mr O’Brien said the measures were solid and well thought through, having been built on co-operation across many Government departments and marine stakeholders.

“This programme is key to meeting Ireland’s ambition for a clean, healthy, biologically diverse marine environment. Through these concrete actions, we can tackle pressures on the marine environment and protect the many benefits we get from the sea,” he added.

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The programme includes plans to develop nature-based solutions in coastal and marine systems to protect biodiversity, improve resilience to climate change and reduce the impact of pollution, and plans to provide environmental guidance for offshore renewable energy.

Mr Noonan said the implementation of this programme would help the State meet its “ambitious” goals for nature, conservation and biodiversity.

“We have increased our effective marine protected area coverage from 2.3 per cent to 8.3 per cent with the proposed additional new special areas of conservation in the southern canyons and porcupine shelf, and we are on track to reach 10 per cent in the coming months,” the Green Party TD said.

The programme of measures consists of actions targeting biodiversity, non-indigenous species, pollution, underwater noise, marine litter and the impacts of increased human activity.

It also includes the development of nature-based solutions in coastal and marine systems, with the goal of protecting biodiversity while safeguarding and improving resilience to climate change and supporting ecosystem services, such as nutrient regulation.

The programme of measures contains actions to provide updated guidance on the reduction of underwater noise pollution to protect marine mammals, and the development of an all-Ireland management strategy for non-indigenous species and invasive species in coastal and marine areas.

It also states that the Single Use Plastics Directive and Circular Economy Act will be implemented among a range of other actions aimed at reducing litter and plastic in Irish seas, allowing the country to reach the EU beach litter threshold value of 20 litter items per 100m.

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage led a national level steering group to develop the programme of measures which included input from Government departments and State agencies responsible for managing pressures on the marine environment, and from environmental non-governmental organisations.

It also incorporated developments in policy and legislation aimed at protecting the marine environment since the first programme of measures was reported in 2015.

The programme of measures was reported to the European Commission in December 2022 as part of Ireland’s European and Regional commitments under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.