Nikki Harasta, Author at Marine Conservation Institute

Protected on Paper: The Reality of Ireland’s MPAs

Nikki Harasta — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 14:12:57 +0000

Article

Protected on Paper: The Reality of Ireland's MPAs

By Marine Conservation Institute | September 3, 2025

The ‘Real Map of Ireland’ is a term coined to describe the vastness of Irish territory when its seas are taken into account (1). Ten times the size of its land area, Ireland’s seas make it one of the largest countries in Europe, encompassing a variety of critical marine ecosystems that support a diversity of marine life.

"The Real Map of Ireland." Image from Marine Institute.

As part of the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, Ireland has committed to protecting 30% of its expansive marine and coastal area by 2030 (30x30) with at least 10% protected in fully or highly protected areas. Now halfway through the Ocean Decade, approximately 9.4% of Ireland’s seas are designated as protected areas, primarily as Natura 2000 sites under the EU Birds and Habitats Directives. Using the science-based MPA Guide framework, the Marine Protection Atlas (MPAtlas) team analyzed Ireland’s entire Natura 2000 network of MPAs to determine their Stage of Establishment and Level of Protection, linking them to their expected outcomes and revealing the quality of protection in Irish Seas. You can explore the data by clicking the button below and keep reading for a deeper dive into the numbers.

View Ireland's MPAs on MPAtlas

Paper Parks: A Lack of MPA Implementation

Our analysis found that, with the exception of Ireland’s only Marine Reserve and four proposed Natura 2000 sites, the Stage of Establishment for all of Ireland’s MPAs is ‘designated’ meaning they exist on paper but have no evidence of implementation on the water. Unfortunately, Ireland has a long history of failing to implement effective measures for its Natura 2000 sites. Natura 2000 designations are established and managed by the National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS) and are typically accompanied by a broad set of conservation objectives and a list of Activities Requiring Consent of the minister (ARCs). However, years after legal designation, many sites still lack management plans and targeted conservation measures to address pressures and threats on the species and habitats that they are meant to protect and where necessary, restore (2).

In addition to a lack of effective planning, concerns about enforcement and capacity have been raised repeatedly. A report published by the Marine Protected Area Advisory Group in 2020 raised concerns about unchecked fishing activity and enforcement capacity within Natura 2000 sites (3). It was found that the entire Marine Unit of the NPWS was staffed by a total of three people, a capacity clearly inadequate for monitoring the 10,099 km2 of sea covered by Ireland’s MPA network (4). Furthermore, in 2022, the Government’s own independent review confirmed the NPWS was unfit to protect Ireland’s wildlife (5).

Importantly, fishing and aquaculture are not regulated by the NPWS. Those activities are managed by the Department of Aquaculture, Food, and the Marine (DAFM) and regulated through separate legal instruments called Fisheries Natura Declarations (FNDs). While nearly all MPAs fall short of Implemented, there is evidence that ten FNDs partially overlap with and provide some on-the-water protection of Natura sites. Many of these measures require the use of vessel monitoring systems within specified areas enabling the DAFM’s Sea Fisheries Protection Authority in conjunction with the Fisheries Monitoring Centre, the Naval Service, and the Air Corps, to patrol and enforce fishing restrictions (6).

Industrial Footprints in Supposed Sanctuaries

The Activities Requiring Consent for most Irish MPAs are rather narrow and not very protective; however, since nearly all MPAs lacked implemented regulations, it is difficult to evaluate the level of protection afforded by the MPAs. Instead, we analyzed the extent and impact of current industrial-scale activities within their using publicly available geospatial datasets.

Mining and/or industrial-scale fishing was found to be occurring in a total of 40 of 210 assessed MPAs; however, this should be considered an underestimate because spatial data only exists for offshore fishing, and many Irish Natura 2000 sites are in coastal waters. The most common fishing gears used within MPA bounds were bottom otter trawls and dredges. An offshore seabed pipeline crosses through three MPAs – Broadhaven Bay SAC, Rockabill to Dalkey Island SAC, and North-West Irish Sea cSPA – and there are active mining authorizations within the Seas off Wexford and North-West Irish Sea cSPAs. While Ireland’s Natura 2000 sites are intended to safeguard marine species and their habitats, in practice, these areas are subject to some of the most destructive human activities that can cause irreparable harm.

While some FNDs explicitly prohibit high impact fishing, such as industrial-scale bottom fishing, others are less restrictive, such as seasonal measures or requirements for GPS use. Industrial-scale fishing was still occurring within most FNDs, even those that explicitly prohibited industrial-scale gears. Seven of ten had industrial-scale fishing occurring within their bounds and only three did not. Most industrial-scale fishing occurring used bottom otter trawls and dredges. One FND also has a gas pipeline running through it.

With this in mind, it comes as no surprise that the most recent biological monitoring on Ireland's Natura 2000 sites from 2019 revealed the majority of marine habitats were inadequate or in bad conservation status (7). ‘Paper parks’, or MPAs that exist on paper but lack regulations, user awareness and/or enforcement cannot deliver positive outcomes for biodiversity (8). Without the implementation of strict, well-enforced regulations, these MPAs are unlikely to see any benefits relative to unprotected waters.

Cliffs of Moher. Photo by Centech.

Moving Forward

While the Natura 2000 Network has been an important catalyst for protected area expansion in the European Union, durable, effective measures that overlap EU designations need to arise from national legislation. This has long been known, and a new MPA Bill, originally promised for 2023, was drafted with the intention of giving the government a legal toolbox with which to create effective MPAs that provide meaningful protection. The drafted Bill, however, was subject to considerable delays due to intergovernmental disagreements on uses of the maritime space. As of July 2025, it appears the new administration is exploring whether an amendment to the existing Maritime Area Planning (MAP) Act 2021 would be a faster and more effective method for designating MPAs. Ocean advocates see this is a "major downgrade" of the government's commitment to marine protection, questioning whether an amended MAP Act would be robust enough to deliver meaningful and well-managed protected areas, not just more ‘paper parks’ (9).

Evaluating Ireland’s Natura 2000 network of MPAs using The MPA Guide revealed the disparity between reported and actual protection, which underscores the necessity of including quality metrics in 30x30 tracking. Though Ireland reports 9.4% protection in their national waters, virtually none of it provides any meaningful benefits to biodiversity and industrial activity is ongoing in many ‘protected’ areas. Until clear, strict, and well-enforced laws are in place, the bounty of protected areas that have already been identified for their biological significance and critical status will remain vulnerable to damaging human activities.

References

Marine Institute Ireland. (n.d.). Ireland's marine resource: Real map of Ireland. https://www.marine.ie/site-area/irelands-marine-resource/real-map-ireland-0
EUR-Lex. (n.d.). Case C-444/21. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:62021CJ0444
Marine Protected Area Advisory Group. (2020). Expanding Ireland's marine protected area network: A report by the Marine Protected Area Advisory Group.
Classen, R. (2020). Marine protected areas – restoring Ireland's ocean wildlife II: Report on Ireland's failure to protect marine Natura 2000 sites. Irish Wildlife Trust.
National Parks and Wildlife Service. (n.d.). Review report with recommendations. https://assets.gov.ie/static/documents/npws-review-report-final-with-recommendations.pdf
Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority. (n.d.). About us: Our work. https://www.sfpa.ie/Who-We-Are/About-Us/Our-Work
National Parks and Wildlife Service. (n.d.). Report on the implementation of the Habitats Directive in Ireland (Article 17). https://www.npws.ie/sites/default/files/publications/pdf/NPWS_2019_Vol1_Summary_Article17.pdf
Grorud-Colvert, K., Sullivan-Stack, J., Roberts, C., Constant, V., Horta e Costa, B., Pike, E. P., Kingston, N., Laffoley, D., Sala, E., Pikitch, E. K., & Lubchenco, J. (2021). The MPA guide: A framework to achieve global goals for the ocean. Science, 373(6560), eabf0861. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abf0861
Fair Seas. (2025, July 2). Government u-turn on MPA law. https://fairseas.ie/2025/07/02/government_u-turn_on_mpa_law/

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David Attenborough’s new film Ocean claims that less than 3% of the Ocean is protected. Here’s why.

Nikki Harasta — Tue, 03 Jun 2025 15:03:14 +0000

Article

photo: Ocean Film

By Nikki Harasta | June 3, 2025

At the legendary age of 99, following a decades-long career as the voice for a planet now on the brink of climate collapse, David Attenborough delivers an important message to his audience in his most recent nature documentary, Ocean: “If we save the Sea, we save our world.”

Urging mankind to act on that message, he mentions that less than 3% of the ocean is currently protected—a fact based on analyses and ongoing reporting by Marine Conservation Institute and our partners.

The ocean provides a wealth of benefits to humanity. It feeds us, supplying 17% of the world’s protein¹ and regulates our climate, capturing one third of total carbon emissions² and absorbing over 90% of the excess heat generated over the past 50 years³. Not to mention, the millions of other species that rely upon the ocean and the intrinsic value it holds by simply existing. Yet, we put immense pressure on these important functions with destructive practices like industrial fishing and deep-sea mining, pushing marine ecosystems to their tipping points.

Still, Attenborough finds hope in the amazing regenerative capabilities of the ocean, especially when it is well protected. In his new film, he touts the benefits of marine protected areas (MPAs), areas of the ocean that restrict destructive human activities, protecting marine biodiversity and delivering benefits to coastal communities. Two of the areas he highlights—the Northern Channel Islands MPAs off the coast of California and the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument near the Hawaiian Islands — demonstrate that these benefits are remarkable when areas are fully or highly protected.

At Marine Conservation Institute, we recognize both of these areas as “Blue Parks,” or MPAs that are upholding the highest science-based standards of marine protection and delivering critical benefits to biodiversity. As Attenborough mentions in the film, highly protected MPAs like those around the Northern Channel Islands show the overfished populations bouncing back in as little as 5 years after implementation!⁴

Alongside the recognition of these success stories, Attenborough advocates for the expansion of the global MPA network, pointing out that currently less than 3% of the world’s ocean is protected from such destructive practices. This is a far shot from the 30x30 goal set by 126 countries around the world under Global Biodiversity Target 3 to protect 30% of the ocean by the year 2030.

The World Database for Protected Areas (WDPA), the official repository of protected area data and primary data source for the headline indicator of GBF Target 3, reports marine protected coverage as a little over 8% as of May 2025.

So where did he get this 3% figure, and why is it an important distinction?

WDPA data is self-reported by countries and includes all MPAs from the time of legal designation, regardless of the implementation or strength of their protections; therefore, included in this 8% are MPAs that allow destructive, industrial-scale activities, such as bottom trawling, or that only exist on paper—areas sometimes referred to as “paper parks.” These areas are unlikely to achieve any conservation outcomes, creating a disconnect between the actual goal and our accounting of progress toward it. Recognizing this disconnect, in 2021, an international group of scientists and practitioners collaborated to create and publish The MPA Guide, a science-based framework that evaluates an MPA’s stage of establishment and level of protection, linking them to its expected outcomes.

Since 2012, the Marine Protection Atlas (MPAtlas) operated by Marine Conservation Institute has endeavored to create a clearer picture of actual protections afforded on the water by MPAs. Since its publication, the Marine Protection Atlas has worked to apply The MPA Guide to MPAs around the world and build up a global repository of MPA Guide assessments.

In April 2024, Marine Conservation Institute published a study using The MPA Guide to establish a true baseline for 30x30 by ascertaining the likely conservation outcomes of roughly 90% of the world’s MPA coverage. We determined that, at that time, only 2.6% of the total reported conserved ocean was implemented and fully or highly protected. As MPAs expand and regulations improve, we continue to track global protection and report the coverage of fully and highly protected areas at mpatlas.org. David Attenborough’s use of this statistic highlights the importance of thoughtful consideration in tracking and communicating progress toward 30x30.

As the global community works toward protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030, the ultimate goal is not some number or percentage but truly effective conservation that safeguards biodiversity. The expansion of fully or highly protected MPAs is of the utmost importance, and an MPA’s level of protection is a crucial indicator that should be an integral part of global reporting.

This call to action comes just as the international community gathers to make important decisions on ocean policy at the 2025 UN Ocean Conference from June 9-13, in Nice, France.

What You Can Do

Attend our events at UNOC 2025!

Accelerating Ocean Conservation: The 2025 Blue Park Awards
Thursday 12 June 2025, 17:30 - 18:45, Room 3, Blue Zone (Port Lympia).
Blue Parks in Action: Advancing Effective Ocean Protection
Friday 13 June 2025, 16:00 - 17:00, Costa Rica Pavilion, "La Baleine" Green Zone (Palexpo).

Learn More and Add to Your Calendar

Watch OCEAN with David Attenborough

Catch the screening of Ocean with David Attenborough at UNOC or when it streams on Disney+ and Hulu on June 8^th.

Catch the UNOC Screening of Ocean

Support Your Local MPAs

Learn about and support your local or national marine protected areas and research opportunities to volunteer with them. The best protected areas are the ones with strong local support!

Explore the World's MPAs and Find Ones Near You at MPAtlas

Choose Sustainable Ocean Options

Make sure any seafood you consume is sustainably sourced.

Learn More

Speak Up for the Ocean

Sign these petitions to stop deep sea mining and protect 30% of the ocean by 2030.

Join the Movement

Support Our Work

Support our work so we can keep securing permanent, strong protection for the oceans' most important places — for us and future generations.

Make a Gift on Behalf of the Ocean

^{1 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2020). Fishery and aquaculture statistics 2018 / FAO annuaire. Statistiques des pêches et de l’aquaculture 2018 / FAO anuario. Estadísticas de pesca y acuicultura 2018. FAO yearbook of fishery and aquaculture statistics. FAO.}^{https://www.fao.org/fishery/en/statistics/yearbook}

^{2 Gruber, N., Landschützer, P., & Lovenduski, N. S. (2019). The oceanic sink for anthropogenic CO₂ from 1994 to 2007. Science, 363(6432), 1193–1199.}^{https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aau5153}

^{3 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Centers for Environmental Information. (2023). Climate change: Ocean heat content. Climate.gov.}^{https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-ocean-heat-content}

^{4 Kay, M. C., Lenihan, H. S., Guenther, C. M., Wilson, J. R., Miller, C. J., & Shrout, S. W. (2012). Collaborative assessment of California spiny lobster population and fishery responses to a marine reserve network. Ecological Applications, 22(1), 322–335.}^{https://doi.org/10.1890/11-0155.1}

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The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly: A Snapshot of Marine Conservation in 2020

Nikki Harasta — Fri, 08 Jan 2021 00:51:10 +0000

The turn of the decade has come and gone with many unexpected losses and challenges. Heightened racial tensions, some of the worst wildfires in decades, and COVID-19 didn’t quite make the year for which we were all hoping. In the midst of this, 2020 has also seen consequential outcomes for ocean protection. To recognize a few of the main players in marine conservation this year, we bring you our list of MPA superlatives: a two-part exploration of the ocean’s biggest losses and wins of 2020!

Most Improved: Seychelles

Seychelles, famous for its beautiful turquoise waters, recently expanded its marine protected area network on March 26, 2020, securing protection for 30% of the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). This is a remarkable feat considering that just eight years ago, only 0.04 % of Seychelles’ marine territory was included in its MPA network.

Seychelles hosts a rich array of biodiversity and sensitive species and ecosystems, including giant turtles, sharks, and delicate coral reefs. Safeguarding this area is important, not only to the flora and fauna that live here, but also to the archipelago’s economic well-being. With the entire terrestrial land of Seychelles’ 115 islands totaling only 460 square kilometers, the marine ecosystem is the foundation on which the Seychelles’ economy is built.

Road to Conservation

The creation of an MPA network was facilitated by a “debt-for-nature” deal proposed by the U.S.-based non-profits The Nature Conservancy and The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, allowing Seychelles to free up $21.6 million of national debt in exchange for the implementation of more effective marine protections and climate change mitigation measures. This created an opportunity for the government to designate 210,000 square kilometers of marine area as MPAs by 2018, and another 200,000 square kilometers in March of this year.

Though this new area of ocean has been formally designated and is well on its way to being implemented, protections on the water won’t be enacted until that point of implementation. Of the 400,000 square kilometer MPA network, 15% (Zone 1) will be a fully protected no-take zone, banning all extractive activities like commercial fishing and mining. The other 15% (Zone 2) will prohibit industrial activities while allowing regulated economic activities like subsistence and artisanal fishing to continue. While designation is an important first step in safeguarding the important habitats and endangered species of Seychelles, extensive planning is necessary for effective conservation. Down the line, we look forward to tracking their continued efforts to secure permanent protection for this rich ecosystem.

Most Likely to Succeed: Piedra del Viento

Along the central coast of Chile, a remote section of coastline in the O’Higgins region is home to endemic species, unique cultural practices, and great surf. On a mission to protect this treasured seascape, in August 2020, locals celebrated a milestone victory – the regional government approved their proposed marine protected area, Piedra del Viento Marine Sanctuary, which will fill an important gap to safeguard the area’s unique and cherished wildlife.

A Hidden Gem

Piedra del Viento hosts a rich variety of biodiversity including the endemic setotus crabs, the rare Chilean flamingo, and endangered Southern right whales. But what makes this MPA especially unique is its significance to the local community. For hundreds of years, the Puertecillo and Topocalma beaches have been sites of artisanal fishing and the cultural practice of algae collecting, earning the locals the name algueros or “algae gatherers.” Furthermore, this area is home to exceptional surfing conditions, including a long sand bottom left point break, which has fostered a surfing-oriented community.

Culture and Conservation Threats

These communities joined together in protest of real estate development projects in Hacienda Topocalma that began in 2014. The privatization of historic roads blocked public access to these shores for four years, while the urbanization of this area threatened important habitats through pollution and destruction of local ecosystems. In collaboration with local fishers, surfers, and local businesses, the Chilean-based non-profit Fundación Rompientes successfully campaigned to regain access to the sea and establish the Piedro del Viento Marine Sanctuary.

Blue Sparks Program

Building on the momentum of these local efforts, Piedro del Viento has been named one of the very first Blue Sparks at Marine Conservation Institute. We have teamed up with Fundación Rompientes to help guide the implementation of this new MPA using Blue Park criteria as a blueprint for management planning. The collaboration of the local community, NGOs, and the Blue Parks team is a promising framework that will help ensure strong and effective protection of wildlife and cultural heritage for years to come.

As we step into the next decade, we look forward to a new year filled with record-breaking good news for the ocean. Missed the first part of our MPA superlatives series? Read it here.

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The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly: A Snapshot of Marine Conservation in 2020

Nikki Harasta — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 01:08:52 +0000

https://marine-conservation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MPA-Superlatives-Part-1-1521-5.16-PM.mp3

Most Newsworthy MPA: Palau National Marine Sanctuary

Known as one of the Seven Wonders of the Underwater World, Palau solidified legal protection over 80% of its national waters on New Year’s Day. The warm waters of this Pacific archipelago are home to over 700 species of hard and soft coral, 1,300 species of fish, and seven out of the nine species of giant clams in the world. Perhaps one of the most rich and biodiverse coral reefs on the planet, the creation of the Palau National Marine Sanctuary is a significant contribution to marine conservation.

Journey to Protection

Protection of the natural environment has been an important part of Palau’s culture for centuries. In 1994, Palau became an independent nation and in the same year passed the Marine Protection Act which included a temporary fishing ban of the bumphead parrotfish. Among other conservation efforts, Palau committed to the Micronesia Challenge in 2006, a pledge of Micronesian states to protect 30% of their marine environment and 20% of their terrestrial environment by 2020. On October 28, 2015, the Palau National Marine Sanctuary Act was signed into law, establishing a five-year plan to gradually reduce the intensity of fishing in 80% of Palau’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) by 2020, far surpassing both global and Micronesian initiatives.

Current Regulations and Conservation Accomplishments

On January 1, 2020, an amendment reinforcing the protections of the Palau National Marine Sanctuary Act went into effect, prohibiting all extractive activities, such as mining and fishing, in the 475,077 square kilometer area of Palau’s protected EEZ, securing 80% of the EEZ as a fully protected no-take zone. Local fisheries are permitted to operate in the remaining 20% of the EEZ, deemed the Domestic Fishing Zone, on the western side of Palau. This effort sets Palau apart as a global leader in marine conservation. As of now, only 2.6% of global ocean areas are in implemented and fully protected zones, falling far short of the UN goal to protect 10% of coastal and marine areas by 2020. As one of the world’s largest MPAs, the Palau National Marine Sanctuary contributes significantly to the preservation of pristine marine environments.

“2020” MPA: Antarctic Southern Ocean

In a year that has earned a reputation for bringing disappointment, perhaps the lack of progress made on protecting the Antarctic seas was the most “on theme” for the year 2020. Recently, members of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) came together in its 39th Meeting to discuss protections of the Antarctic seas. The virtual discussions included proposals for three new MPAs in the Southern Ocean: East Antarctica, the Antarctic Peninsula, and the Weddell Sea. Negotiations for the creation of a network of MPAs in the Southern Ocean have been ongoing for over a decade, in which time only two MPAs have been implemented. In true 2020 fashion, the three-day conference produced little meaningful change: the 26 member nations were unable to unify to secure the vote. The CCAMLR members failed to designate any of the three proposed MPAs, missing the opportunity to protect an additional 1% of the world’s ocean.

Photo credit: Cristina Mittermeier

East Antarctica

The proposed East Antarctic MPA would have protected 970,000 square kilometers of critical coastal habitat for seals, toothfish, penguins, and the backbone of the ecosystem in the Antarctic: krill. Limited commercial fishing for Antarctic krill and Antarctic and Patagonian toothfish is currently permitted. The proposed regulations would help preserve the region’s unique biodiversity by creating highly protected toothfish and krill no-take zones and sustainable fishing zones within the MPA.

Antarctic Peninsula

Protection for the 670,000 square kilometer area of the Antarctic Peninsula would build the resilience of one of the fastest warming ocean regions in the world. Melting sea ice and concentrated krill fishing pose critical threats to food webs and wildlife habitat for krill, whales, seals, and penguins. The proposed MPA would include a General Protection Zone, prohibiting krill fishing, and a sustainable Krill Fishing Zone, permitting commercial fishing by CCAMLR members under the Commission’s conservation measures.

Weddell Sea

Considerations for protection of Weddell Sea’s 2.2 million square kilometers of remote ocean and sea ice sought to safeguard the region’s rich, biodiverse species such as petrels, seals, penguins, whales and endemic benthic species, including cold water corals and glass sponges. This marine reserve would serve to preserve the pristine sea ice and seafloor ecosystems that support these unique species. The MPA would have included a General Protection Zone closed to commercial fishing, a Fishing Research Zone with clearly defined research activities and a scientific reference area that is to remain unfished, and a Special Protection Zone that prohibits all fishing.

Although the CCAMLR meeting concluded without approving these protections this year, as a consolation prize, the Commission agreed to precautionary toothfish catch limits for all fisheries in the area and signed a pledge declaring the urgent need for an MPA network in the Southern Ocean, sparking hope for future progress. As we look forward to 2021, we hope delegates will gather the support needed to secure stronger marine protections in Antarctic waters.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our MPA Superlatives series!

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