Published: April 25th 2024
On the 22nd of April, Irish Ministers announced Ireland’s first Marine National Park, Páirc Náisiúnta na Mara. This will be Ireland’s largest National Park covering more than 70,000 acres of land and sea. This is an inspiring vision and it is encouraging to see public money being used to acquire land for nature; however the National Park designation itself doesn’t enhance the environmental protection of these areas. As always, management and resourcing is the key.
The National Park is situated in Co.Kerry and the newly acquired sites include the Conor Pass, the Owenmore River, Mount Brandon and sand dune sites at Inch Peninsula. Other sites within the park include Little Skellig and Puffin Island, both managed by BirdWatch Ireland as well as several areas managed by the Office of Public Works (OPW) such as Derrynane House, historic park and beach, Sceilig Michíl and land on Great Blasket Island. An Tiaracht Nature reserve, managed by the Commissioners of Irish Lights is also within the park as well as Valentia Tetrapod Trackway. The marine aspects of the park include the waters around the Blasket Islands and Kerry Head Shoals which host ecologically important limestone reefs.
There are no additional regulations or restrictions being added to these sites now that they are under National Park status. Some of the sites already have some management plans in place with sites like Puffin Island and little Skellig being monitored by BirdWatch Ireland. While it is encouraging to see these ecologically important areas being recognised as a National Park, without setting aside money and resources to appropriately manage these areas, the title doesn’t mean a lot in regards to protecting biodiversity. Some of the areas within the new National Park are already designated under other forms of environmental legislation but still fail to have appropriate management in place to protect biodiversity.
One of our other National Parks in Killarney is facing ecological threats from overgrazing as well as invasive plant species spreading through the park. One could argue that some of the money that was spent purchasing new land could have been put to better use through allocating more resources to protecting the biodiversity in existing National Parks and protected areas.
Worryingly for nature, Ministers reassured farmers that no changes to their farming practices would be required in the new National Park. If this is the case for farmers on land then it will likely be the case for fishers working in the marine sites of this park. If no regulations are in place and it is business as usual, then the announcement and National Park designation seems slightly redundant.
In regards to the marine aspects of the National park, enacting strong and ambitious marine protected area legislation will go a lot further when it comes to conserving and restoring these areas into the future. We are currently still waiting on the government to release MPA legislation and we hope that it will include Fair Seas key asks as this will ensure the legislation is fit for purpose and will benefit marine ecosystems, coastal communities and other stakeholders.
It is very positive that the State has recognised the important ecological value of these sites with this designation. For it to be worthwhile for nature it’s vital that there is engagement across government sectors and stakeholders and that money is now spent on proactively managing the areas.
Map of Ireland’s first National Marine Park
Author: Grace Carr – Marine Advocacy Officer