Conservationists from around the Irish Sea are looking to turn a tide of inaction to ensure the Irish Sea and all its inhabitants are protected.

While 36 per cent of the Irish Sea is designated as a Marine Protected Area, only approximately five per cent has any management in place and less than 0.01 per cent is fully protected.

The Irish Sea is under significant and increasing pressure from climate change and activities like fishing, aquaculture, development, shipping, aggregates, military activity, recreational activity and pollution.

And while more than 15 million people live around the Irish Sea and many more visit for holidays, only a small percentage of them realise what wildlife lives there and just how important it is for biodiversity and the environment.

Conservationists representing six countries and a number of different organisations – Manx Wildlife Trust, North Wales Wildlife Trust, the North West Wildlife Trusts, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Sustainable Water Network (Ireland), The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales and Ulster Wildlife – have come together to press for action.

The Irish Sea region is already considered to be in a degraded state. The Irish Sea Network has produced a Review of the Irish Sea 2022 and has laid down their vision and calls to action to protect and improve the health of the Irish Sea.

Head of Marine at the North West Wildlife Trusts, Georgia de Jong Cleyndert says:

“Working together is essential. Wildlife does not adhere to lines drawn on maps, so we need to think at an Irish Sea scale. Whilst there are some protection measures in place for the Irish Sea, management is weak.

“Millions of people around the Irish Sea rely on it for food, employment and wellbeing, but many overlook its role in fighting against climate change and its importance for wildlife – few know about the incredibly diverse habitats that support a huge amount of amazing wildlife – giant basking sharks, leatherback turtles, beautiful starfish and jellyfish, dolphins, porpoises, seal and sharks, as well as internationally important seabirds like Manx shearwater and guillemots”.

Without protection and proper management much of this wildlife faces an uncertain future - pollution, development and destruction of habitat could lead to a severe decline in biodiversity.

The Irish Sea will also be affected by global warming. Blue carbon is the absorption and storage of atmospheric carbon in the marine environment. Oceans store 20-35 per cent of human-made carbon emissions. Blue carbon is stored in the Irish Sea in seagrass, saltmarsh, sediment, shellfish beds and reefs, intertidal sand and mud flats and brittlestar beds. Whilst intact marine ecosystems are effective at sequestering and storing carbon, when marine habitats are damaged they can’t retain as much carbon and may switch from being a carbon store to a carbon source.

Georgia de Jong Cleyndert continues: “We must ensure that damaging activities like dredging, development and damaging fishing practices are managed to ensure that vitally important areas for the environment are protected and we give space for nature’s recovery.

“If people living around the Irish Sea and those visiting realised just what amazing wildlife is in there and how important it is for the future of our children and grandchildren, they would want to support the work to protect and improve our forgotten sea.

“We are also calling on politicians and business leaders to work with us to make sure this is a sea where wildlife can flourish.”

The Irish Sea Network has a vision for “a healthy and resilient Irish Sea, enabled by collaborative, cross-national action; where marine wildlife and blue carbon habitats thrive, supporting multiple environmental, social and economic benefits”.

It believes that strategic and effective marine planning that takes an ecosystem-based approach with cross-national collaboration, would help to reduce the impact upon sensitive wildlife habitats and carbon stores.

Read the Irish Sea Network’s Vision Statement and 2022 Review at: www.irishseanetwork.org

Steve Trotter, CEO of Cumbria Wildlife Trust said “The Irish Sea Network is a vital partnership that brings together representatives from all six nations around the Irish Sea. The Network’s vision and position statements reflect an urgent need to protect and strategically manage this incredibly important, yet busy, regional sea. Our marine environment plays a huge role in climate change mitigation but can only do so if it is healthy and if actions are taken to reduce and reverse biodiversity loss and protect ecologically important areas”.

Tom Burditt CEO of Lancashire Wildlife Trust said “We often describe the Irish Sea as the Forgotten Sea, because it gets less attention than other parts of the British and Irish coastline, and because despite millions of people living and holidaying along its shores, very few of us get to see and experience either the wealth of life living in it, or the damage being done to that special wildlife by inappropriate and unregulated activities. This new partnership, vision, and review is an important next step at addressing that. But it will only work if we now use it to work in partnership with the communities and businesses living and working on, in and alongside this fabulous marine ecosystem.”

Charlotte Harris, CEO of Cheshire Wildlife Trust said: “The marine environment is not the first thing to spring to mind when people think about Cheshire however along with Lancashire Wildlife Trust, Cumbria Wildlife Trust and North Wales Wildlife Trust we do important work in the Liverpool Bay area. Cheshire Wildlife Trust is committed to protecting the marine environment as part of Living Seas North West and as the lead partner in the Tidal Dee Catchment Partnership. 

“We all know what strength can come from partnerships and people working together and that is what this new strategy should enable us to do on a much bigger scale. 

Cheshire Wildlife Trust has a vested interest in the lives and livelihoods of its coastal communities, both human and animal, with conservation work within the Irish Sea benefiting all of us into the future by reducing the effects of climate change and improving habitats for wildlife and people alike.” 

Jo Pike CEO, of the Scottish Wildlife Trust, said: “The Scottish Wildlife Trust welcomes this new partnership as the time for action to transform our marine environment is now, if we are to address the nature and climate crises together. Our marine environment has been neglected for too long and by working together we can make the improvements we need in the Irish Sea to deliver the right level of protection for our key marine areas, reduce the damage from human activities and undertake more sustainable fishing practices. There is much more we can do to help the wide array of wildlife that lives in our seas and at the same time unlock multiple benefits for people.”

Jennifer Fulton, of Ulster Wildlife Trust said: “The Irish Sea is an ecologically diverse but heavily used sea, of strategic importance to all surrounding nations. Supporting wildlife and the many essential ecosystem services of a healthy shelf sea against a backdrop of climate change and biodiversity loss requires an urgent transformation in management, encompassing a truly transboundary, collaborative approach.”

Sinéad O’Brien, Coordinator of Sustainable Water Network (SWAN), said: “It is clear that pressures in the Irish Sea are increasing. Although 36% of the Irish Sea is designated as protected, Ireland contributes only about 1.4% to that figure and due to a lack of management plans for these protected sites the level of actual protection is much lower again. The Irish Sea is about to get much busier. For example, we know that we are about to see a huge expansion of offshore renewable energy projects, but if we want to tackle the twin climate and biodiversity emergencies, we need robust marine planning which ensures space for nature through a network of effective marine protected areas covering a minimum of 30% of our waters. The time for action is now.”

Frances Cattnach, CEO of North Wales Wildlife Trust, said: “Whilst there is still much to discover about the wildlife of the Irish Sea we know that it is suffering massive declines and we must act quickly and decisively to protect what’s left. As Wildlife Trusts surrounding this incredible area of sea we have worked together for many years but this new Irish Sea Network and Vision gives us the opportunity to work at a truly collaborative and strategic level towards our vision of a healthy and resilient Irish Sea.”

Rachel Sharp, CEO of Wildlife Trusts Wales, said: “Wales has more sea than land and the only effective way of managing this natural resource is to work in partnership. Therefore, Wildlife Trusts Wales welcomes the Irish Sea Partnership at this critical time in understanding the multiple pressures affecting our marine environment. Together we can take the urgent action needed to restore the Irish sea for people and for nature.”

The Irish Sea Network is an innovative, partnership comprising of conservation organisations surrounding the sea that have come together to improve our collective impact for nature. Established in September 2020, through funding provided by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and the John Ellerman Foundation, the Network’s membership includes representatives from: Manx Wildlife Trust, North Wales Wildlife Trust, the North West Wildlife Trusts, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Sustainable Water Network (Ireland), The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales and Ulster Wildlife. Responding to the urgent need for greater cross-national collaboration and knowledge sharing, its aim is to improve understanding of marine conservation activities and pressures across the Irish Sea, and to provide a forum for communication, co-operation and greater advocacy for better management of the Irish Sea.