Kelly publishes marine strategy document
Issued : Thursday 24 July, 2014
Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Alan Kelly, Minister today published a consultation document entitled ‘Marine Strategy Framework Directive Article 11 Monitoring Programmes’.
This document presents the elements being considered for inclusion in Ireland’s finalised Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) Monitoring Programmes which is due to be submitted to the European Commission by 15 October 2014.
The Minister said that the purpose of the public consultation process is to foster community engagement with, and to achieve a greater awareness of, the MSFD and its on-going implementation in Ireland.
‘It provides an opportunity for members of the public to make submissions which will inform the finalised version of the National Monitoring Programmes as well as future stages of the MSFD project’, the Minister said.
Submissions and comments are invited on the draft Monitoring Programmes, on or before Friday, 12 September 2014. A dedicated email address, msfd@environ.ie has been set up to facilitate feedback from stakeholders including eNGOs, industry, the general public and other interested parties. Also, a response sheet to assist parties in making structured submissions is available on the Department’s website.
The aim of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive is to achieve or maintain Good Environmental Status (GES) in European Union's marine environment by 2020. It represents the environmental pillar of the EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy and its implementation requires a multi-disciplinary approach, including the development of targets, indicators and measures relating to the characteristics and pressures present within EU waters.
‘The MSFD requires Member States to publish the monitoring programmes they intend to use to measure progress toward achieving GES. The purpose of this public consultation is not only to fulfil a public participation obligation but to enrich the process and secure economic and environmental benefits of the marine resource for the current and future generations’ the Minister concluded
Further information on the Marine Strategy Framework Directive is available on the Department’s website at the following location: http://www.environ.ie/en/Environment/Water/WaterQuality/Marine/
