The third IOLN Regional Members’ Meeting of 2024 took place in the Stella Maris Centre, Kilmore Quay, Co. Wexford on October 11th. The event offered a welcomed chance to focus the discussion on changes facing the Southeast coast of Ireland. The Southeast is a great attraction for tourists and is rich in biodiversity, but is also impacted, more than other parts of the island, by plans to establish offshore wind farms and marine protected areas, as well as the negative impacts of climate change. The presentations by invited speakers, as well as the panel discussion in the afternoon, offered a unique chance to provide an overview of perspectives from multiple stakeholders, including fishers, scientists, regulatory bodies, policy makers, and members of the local community.
The IOLN wish to deeply thank the Biodiversity Officer of the Wexford County Council, Claire Goodwin, as well as the staff at the Stella Maris Centre for all the support received in the organisation of the event.
Some of the key messages arising from the IOLN Regional Members’ Meeting in Wexford were:
- The Southeast coastline is highly sensitive to the impacts of climate change in terms of coastal erosion from sea level rise and more frequent and intense storms. While Coastwatch volunteers are recording how these changes are affecting the environment, Wexford County Council is working on developing risk management plans to mitigate the effects of the coastal erosion.
- The Southeast coast of Ireland has been selected for the next phase of development of Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) due to its shallow waters and the availability of supporting infrastructure. The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) is responsible for the Designated Maritime Area Plan (DMAP) process for ORE, while the newly established Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA) is responsible for managing the awarding of Marine Area Consents and Maritime Usage Licences.
- The meeting reflected a considerable sense of uncertainty and unease with Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) process and proposed large scale ORE developments and Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Southeast. This is particularly felt by fishers, who are concerned about the restrictions which may come with ORE and MPAs, and what further impacts may follow if proposed restrictions on fishing were accepted. A strong need for more involvement of fishers in the MSP processes was expressed.
- Without the dedicated MPA legislation still in place, Ireland is still far from reaching our target of protecting 30% of our marine area by 2030. An important step in this direction came from an ecological sensitivity analysis of the Celtic Sea that was recently completed to inform future designation of MPAs.
- Joy Rooney highlighted projects aimed at discovering and protecting the local marine environment and heritage taking place at the Southeast Technological University (SETU).
To learn more about this regional event, check the full report attached below.