Great turnout of over 80 marine leaders across a range of state agencies and Departments, NGOs, third levels, industry and the fishing community at a Marine Leaders’ Forum to discuss the Nature Restoration Law and how it will be turned into a national Nature Restoration Plan.
A Nature Restoration Plan is required meet the targets of the EU Nature Restoration Regulation. It is being coordinated by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and will be presented to Minister Chris O’Sullivan in September 2026. This is already a legally binding obligation.
There are a number of pillars with one (Article 5) focussing on marine restoration. An Independent Advisory Committee (IAC) chaired by Dr Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin, will take inputs from a series of similar stakeholder events and a Technical Working Group. Further inputs to the IAC will come from Community Conversations which will begin across Ireland shortly.
A very good attendance of a broad sweep of marine interests were in the room and the organisers pushed us along to address different aspects of marine restoration and how this can be incorporated into a plan. The IWDG were well represented by Dr Stephen Comerford and Dr Simon Berrow, who was also invited to join a panel discussion chaired by Mark Mellett.
Donal Griffin (Fair Seas), Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin (Chair), Jenny Bortoluzzi (IEN), Grace Carr (IWT), Stephen Comerford (IWDG), Rochelle Streker (Birdwatch Ireland) and Simon Berrow (IWDG)
Initially the focus will be on restoring those key marine habitat types (7 are identified in the NRL) within the current Natura 2000 network. Cross-delivery with other EU Directives such as the Habitats, Marine Strategy Framework and the Water Framework Directives were discussed.
Key topics included how to achieve the NRL targets taking a long-term perspective, including providing the resources and commitment across governments. Issues around measuring and monitoring progress were highlighted, as was the absolute requirement to include all stakeholders, particularly the fishing community, to achieve marine restoration.
We wait to see if there really is the ambition and commitment to restore our seas, will the resources be provided, and will engagement with stakeholders be real and meaningful. This is a whole of government obligation and we hope that all parties can come together to achieve these ambitious targets.
Congratulations to Hannah Hamilton and her team for organising the event. The draft plan will be available for public consultation and we encourage all those interested in this important work to get involved. For more information see RestoreNature.ie