FAIR SEAS WELCOMES MPA LIFE IRELAND PROJECT, BUT CONCERNS REMAIN

Fair Seas welcomes MPA LIFE Ireland project, but concerns remain

Responding on behalf of Fair Seas to today’s announcement, Sorley McCaughey said

“We welcome the MPA LIFE project as we welcome every effort to protect, conserve and restore Ireland’s marine environment.  The project is a vital piece of the MPA jigsaw that – when complete – will provide outstanding protection for our sea and coastline.

However we continue to have concerns that the MPA bill will not be published this year.

In a sense the announcement of the project today – while very welcome – is putting the cart before the horse. We need the initiatives like the MPA LIFE project to be grounded and supported by strong MPA legislation to ensure they are as effective as they can possibly be. 

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 material and we will be ready to make sure that is reflected in any new programme for government”. 

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