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Healthy Seas and Society
Oceans, seas, islands and coastal areas form
an integrated and essential component of the Earth's ecosystem
and are critical for global food security and for sustaining economic
prosperity and well-being of many national economies, particularly
in developing countries.
Para. 29, Plan of Implementation, World Summit on Sustainable
Development 2002
The enormous size, diversity and complexity
of the marine environment over which Ireland claims jurisdiction
presents government and civil society with many challenges regarding
its protection and management.
In order to responsibly and effectively manage
the health of the marine environment, we must first understand
its character and recognise that "the environment" is
not itself an entity that we can manage — it is a dynamic
and diverse system that changes naturally, heedless of our desire
to manipulate and control its behaviour. Only the impact of human
influence on the marine environment can be managed, and that usually
requires us to modify our behaviour.
The marine environment is a complex entity comprising distinct
but interconnected components, many of which are of enormous physical
dimension: the coastline, seabed, its subsoil, the water column,
sea surface and overlying atmosphere, the abundance and variety
of marine life, habitats and ecosystems [1] within
the marine environment, the substances, energy, objects and constructions
we introduce to it, and the human activities that take place on,
in, over and around it.
Oceans and seas cover over 70% of the Earth's surface. They have
a large influence on global heat transport and precipitation (climate
and weather patterns). They provide a large proportion of the
oxygen we breathe and are a major source of biodiversity [2]
and natural resources.
The protection and management of the natural
resource base are of fundamental importance to achieving ecologically
sustainable economic and social development. Nearly one billion
people worldwide already rely on oceans and seas as a major source
of nutrition. This dependence will continue to grow as human populations
increase. The degradation of the oceans and seas seriously threatens
food security and the eradication of poverty across the globe.
In addition to food, oceans and seas provide
us with a wide variety of goods, services and other benefits,
including oil and gas, renewable energy generation potential,
transportation corridors and recreational opportunities.
A healthy society
depends on healthy seas
and coasts.
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