Sir, – The announcement last week that a large Marine Protected Area (MPA) is to be created in the Atlantic Ocean is, on the face of it, great news ("Vast area of Atlantic to be protected in effort to conserve seabird species", News, October 1st).
However, beneath the headline and the press release from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage it appears that this is set to be yet another meaningless “paper park”. The announcement was accompanied by no management measures, is designed to protect sea birds but not the fish upon which they feed and, given that it is located in international waters (the high seas – and so beyond any national jurisdiction), even if there was an intention to do something, there is nothing that could be done to enforce it.
In our own waters, despite some grandiose announcements, we have designated a mere 2.6 per cent of the ocean in MPAs and these are also just paper parks, providing only superficial protection.
The oceans are under unprecedented pressure from human activities with ecosystems in a state of collapse. We urgently need to take concrete measures to address this. We don’t need more paper parks and empty announcements. – Yours, etc,
PÁDRAIC FOGARTY,
Irish Wildlife Trust,
Dublin 7.