Fair Seas: Ireland’s journey to 30×30

Ireland is lagging behind neighbouring and European Union (EU) countries in terms of the quantity and quality of its Marine Protected Area (MPA) network. Despite a Government commitment to delivering 10% of Irish waters as protected by 2020, increasing to 30% by 2030, Ireland’s MPAs currently extend to only 8.3% of our seas, with little to no management plans in place. Fair Seas is a campaign led by Ireland’s leading marine-focused eNGOs and networks. It is their aim to see the Irish government create ambitious new legislation that will allow us to designate, monitor and manage a new network of Marine Protected Areas that cover at least 30% of Irish waters with at least 10% of these being highly protected. As an island nation Ireland’s communities are intrinsically linked to the ocean and we hope to build a movement of ocean stewardship right across the island by bringing communities together and highlighting connections to the ocean within our communities. Divers are one of our most valuable sets of eyes and ears in the underwater world, in this Sea Search talk Jack Trá will discuss the work of Fair Seas to ensure greater respect for our ocean is fostered with a new MPA network and how divers can play their part and share stories from life in the ocean.

You can register for this talk here.