Listen to Marine Protection Areas ‘while doing the dishes’

Press Release - Friends of the Irish Environment - Aug 23rd 2021

Handbook on Marine Protection Areas published as audiobook
Listen to Marine Protection Areas ‘while doing the dishes’

An extensive Report on the status of Marine Protection Areas [MPAs] in Ireland has been made available on line both as a pdf and an audiobook from the library of the website of Friends of the Irish Environment [FIE]. A new 'MPA' tab on the organisation's Home Page gives direct access to the publication, which is being made available for no charge.

PRESS RELEASE
FRIENDS OF THE IRISH ENVIRONMENT
MONDAY 23 AUGUST 20121
IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Handbook on Marine Protection Areas published as audiobook
Listen to Marine Protection Areas ‘while doing the dishes’

An extensive Report on the status of Marine Protection Areas [MPAs] in Ireland has been made available on line both as a pdf and an audiobook from the library of the website of Friends of the Irish Environment [FIE]. A new 'MPA' tab on the organisation's Home Page gives direct access to the publication, which is being made available for no charge.

‘Many people would never be able to read a 100+ page report on what marine protection areas are – I am one – but I now can listen while doing the dishes’, FIE Trustee Judy Osborne, who suggested the audio version, explains. The work, by Sarah Ryan Enright, is read by well-known voice worker Tim O’Donovan over four hours.

The Irish Government has acknowledged the need to enact new legislation enabling the establishment of a broader network of MPAs and as a first step convened an expert advisory group to prepare a report on “Expanding Ireland’s Marine Protected Area Network” which was published on 17 February 2021 and put out to a public consultation until 30 July 2021. This work includes comments on that publication.

Author Sarah Enright explains that ‘the Government is committed to putting in place a legal framework to support Ireland’s binding commitment of 30% protection of its waters by 2030. Ireland currently lags far behind this international commitment with only 2% of its waters under protection.’

Section 1 of this report opens with an overview of the threats facing Ireland’s marine environment and introduces MPAs as an essential part of the solution. Section 2 of the report contains a comprehensive overview of the current legal status of MPAs in Ireland, which derives predominantly from international and European law. Section 3 presents a summary of the gaps and weaknesses identified during the analysis of Irish law. Section 4 provides a comparative analysis of neighbouring jurisdictions with whom we share seas, the UK and France. Section 5 concludes with a series of recommendations for the expansion of the Irish MPA network based on international best practice and insights from the comparative study.

The author’s final recommendation is that ‘In light of the unprecedented gravity of the ocean, climate and biodiversity crises and the significant MPA expansion that will need to occur in Irish waters over a relatively short space of time, it is critical that legislation be enacted as a matter of urgency and equally important that sufficient resources be allocated for the design and implementation of Ireland’s MPA network.’

ENDS
Contact: Judy Osborne 086 3699575

EXPANDING IRELAND’S MARINE PROTECTION AREAS: A LEGAL HANDBOOK
by Sarah Ryan Enright
PRINT VERSION
PDF for download
https://www.friendsoftheirishenvironment.org/images/MPA/ExpandingIrelandsMarineProtectionAreasLegalHandbook2021.pdf
Supported by Patagonia, the Handbook is also available in printed format from their shop at 24 Exchequer Street, Dublin 2 or on request from Friends of the Irish Environment.
AUDIO VERSION
Read by Tim O’Donovan
The audio version has been supported by the Irish NGO MPA Coalition with funding provided by Oceans 5, an international funders' collaborative dedicated to protecting the world's five oceans.
https://www.friendsoftheirishenvironment.org/images/MPA/ExpandingIrelandsMarineProtectionAreasLegalHandbook2021Audio.mp4