Our seas are not in good shape but sea life could rebound with a network of 'marine protected areas'

On land we have national parks and nature reserves and Ireland's territorial sea area is around 10 times that of our land — now we have a target of protecting 30% of our marine waters by the end of the decade

Fair Seas, a coalition of Ireland's leading environmental organisations and networks published a report identifying potential locations for Marine Protected Areas (MPA) in Irish waters.  Picture: Michael O'Sullivan /OSM PHOTO

Did you know that Ireland’s territorial sea area is about 10 times that of our land?

But while we have been creating national parks and nature reserves on land since the 1960s the idea of doing the same at sea still hasn’t really caught on. It’s 15 years since Ireland, along with other member states of the EU agreed to create a network of ‘marine protected areas’ (MPAs) as part of a broader effort to protect the oceans from human activity. Last year, for the first time, the Government introduced the draft of a new law that would allow for the identification and management of MPAs, something that will hopefully see the protection of 30% of our marine waters within MPAs by the end of the decade.