Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 December 2023
387. Deputy Ciarán Cannon asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if it his intention, in line with the EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy, to designate 10% of Ireland’s seas as strictly protected, and crucially, whether a 10% strict protection target will be included in the forthcoming Marine Protected Areas Bill 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54488/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government is committed to achieving 30% Marine Protected Area (MPA) coverage of Ireland's Maritime Area by 2030, in line with the Programme for Government, the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, and a number of International initiatives such as the UN post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.
There is not yet scientific consensus on the meaning or necessary level of strict protection in this context. Nevertheless, it is intended to make provision in the Marine Protected Areas Bill for different degrees of protection, including the complete exclusion of damaging human activities which will be linked to the sensitivity, fragility or the degraded condition of the habitats or species being protected within the MPA.
My Department has been working in close collaboration with parliamentary drafters over the past several months to develop the Marine Protected Areas Bill and I anticipate that the Bill will be ready for publication early in 2024.
Separately, the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) of my Department continues its significant work to designate Natura sites in the marine under the Birds and Habitats Directives. In the past two years, two Special Areas of Conservation in the northeast Atlantic and one Special Protection Area in the northwest Irish sea, collectively comprising almost 3.25 million hectares of our marine waters, have been newly designated for protection, bringing the total protected area from 2.3% to more than 9%. Work continues to advance the implementation of the EU Nature Directives in Ireland’s marine environment.
