The government of Northern Ireland has launched consultations on two initiatives aimed at enhancing ocean conservation, as it seeks to strengthen biodiversity monitoring and hasten the restoration of marine and “blue carbon” habitats.
Both the marine protected areas (MPA) strategy and the blue carbon action plan were drafted by the Department of Agriculture, Environment, and Rural Affairs (DAERA), and will be open for views until July 11.
“Since the publication of the first MPA strategy in 2014, our understanding of how MPAs function and the role that marine ecosystems play in climate change adaption and mitigation has grown significantly,” the Minister of Agriculture, Environment, and Rural Affairs, Andrew Muir, said in a statement.
“We need to take immediate action to tackle the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change. These consultations will help ensure that our marine environment is managed in a way that will help address biodiversity loss, and harness wider environmental and societal benefits.”
Northern Ireland’s inshore MPA network comprises 48 protected areas, accounting for 38% of the total area.
These include marine special areas of conservation (SACs), marine special protected areas (SPAs), coastal areas of special scientific interest (ASSIs), marine conservation zones (MCZs), and Ramsar sites.
Under the revised strategy, the list of habitats to be protected within MPAs will be updated to include blue carbon habitats, which were not covered by the previous designation of MCZs.
The ministry aims to “identify a mechanism of prioritisation of Northern Ireland’s blue carbon habitats for management, restoration, and creation” by 2025, while also ramping up funding towards conservation efforts.
BLUE CARBON HABITATS
“Blue carbon” refers to CO2 captured by the world’s ocean and coastal ecosystems, such as the vegetation and soils of mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrasses.
“Blue carbon habitats have the potential to be managed to protect and even increase their carbon sequestration. It was therefore a timely opportunity to consider the protection and restoration of blue carbon habitats, as many of these are located within the existing MPA network,” said the MPA strategy.
The document targets establishing a new governance structure to bolster the management of MPAs as well as developing a monitoring and reporting framework by 2025.
A separate governance will be tasked with overseeing the implementation of the blue carbon action plan, and is set to be established within three months of the publication of the plan.
“Alignment between the governance structure for the action plan and that for the reviewed MPA strategy is necessary to streamline progress against objectives for both areas where there are linked actions,” said the ministry.
According to the MPA strategy, the government will also explore how Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) could complement the existing national MPA network.
OECMs are defined as areas where nature is conserved despite it not being their primary purpose, such as public parks and research forests.
Under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) agreement, which requires countries to have 30% of land and sea protected by 2030, governments may count OECMs towards their national conservation targets.
OECMs already play a key role in Japan’s strategy to meet the GBF target. Australia is also planning to include these areas in its efforts to achieve the 30×30 goal.
By Sergio Colombo – sergio@carbon-pulse.com
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