The Blue Growth & Marine Spatial Planning Scheme is established under Union Priority 6 (Integrated Maritime Policy) of Ireland’s European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) Operational Programme. It is co-funded by the Irish Government and the EU.
Operation 1 of the Scheme is providing technical and scientific support for the development of a Marine Spatial Plan for Ireland.
Objective
The objective of the Scheme is to address a number of needs identified under Ireland’s European Maritime and Fisheries Fund Operational Programme. These include:
- Improving data and knowledge generation, management and sharing; including the development of new products and services (e.g. Ireland Marine Atlas and delivery to EMODNET), in support of a range of policies and directives such as Common Fisheries Policy, Natura, Marine Strategy Framework Directive and Maritime Spatial Planning.
- Collecting, collating and mapping accurate, up-to-date spatial and temporal information on marine ecosystems and human activities taking place within Ireland’s maritime domain to support marine spatial planning.
- Developing strong marine spatial data analysis, modelling and decision support capabilities.
- Developing integrated/coordinated marine and coastal planning and licensing in order to sustainably maximise the potential for Ireland’s ocean economy.
- Better understanding the implication of climate change on ecosystem goods and services and human activities through monitoring and modelling.
- Delivering social and economic development objectives, consistent with our environmental obligations and Ireland’s Integrated Marine Plan – Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth.