The Irish Wildlife Trust welcomes the new government’s promise to re-establish a Minister for State for Fisheries and Marine, but says commitments for marine conservation are “lacking” in the Programme for Government.
“Disappointingly, there was no mention of the long awaited Marine Protected Areas (MPA) Bill, despite a commitment to this in the last programme,” it says in a statement, describing it as one of several worrying omissions.
“While there is a commitment to expanding MPAs, currently MPAs are designated under the EU Birds and Habitats Directive and public consultation before designation of areas is not mandatory within these laws,”the trust says.
“ The enactment of an ambitious MPA Bill into law could help to rectify this and ensure coastal communities and those who rely on the sea have their views considered,”it says.
“There is also a mention of establishing wildlife sanctuaries but no definition of what this would entail. Other definitions of wildlife sanctuaries state that these areas are places where wildlife can exist without human pressures. Regardless, without a strong legal framework underpinning these designations, they won’t account for much,” it says.
“Overall this Programme for Government shows a neglectful lack of ambition on nature protection and restoration and a lack of understanding about the opportunity that nature restoration offers for climate action and societal benefit,”the trust says.
“One particularly striking omission is the complete lack of commitment to ring fence funds from the infrastructure, climate and nature fund to enact the EU Nature Restoration Law,”it says.
The trust said it had contacted lead negotiators during the drafting of the programme and requested this to be made a priority. Without ambitious funding, farmers will be unable to enact any voluntary measures for the restoration of nature, it notes.
