Revitalising Our Seas

Fair Seas is an Irish non-profit organisation seeking to protect, conserve and restore Ireland’s unique marine environment. This report presents 16 Areas of Interest for marine protected area (MPA) designation in Irish waters. An area of interest (AOI) is a critical biodiversity hotspot for one or more species of conservation interest. The proposed AOIs aim to accelerate the Irish government’s efforts to designate an MPA network in Irish waters and increase it to 30% by 2030.

The document is a data-heavy scientific report with numerous maps, charts and graphs in each section. The goal was to make it as accessible as possible while maintaining its scientific integrity. A multi-grid system was designed to organise the information and provide flexibility in laying out the diverse range of data: a 3-column grid for the AOI sections and 2-columns for the other sections.

Each AOI has an introductory spread—its name, qualifying interests, maps identifying its location, spatial extent and habitat type on the verso and a photograph of the area or species type on the recto. The following pages include the primary reasons for site importance, a description of features including Habitats, Seabirds, Elasmobranchs, Cetaceans and commercially exploited species, and a range of maps showing species densities.