To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Northern Ireland makes a contribution to the delivery of the commitments made by the UK Government in the Global Ocean Alliance 30by30 initiative.

My Department is currently developing the new Biodiversity Strategy for Northern Ireland through a co-design process with stakeholders. One of the key targets in this strategy is that by 2030 at least 30% globally of land areas and sea areas are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measure and integrated into the wider landscapes and seascapes.

Currently, there are 48 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) which occupy 38% of the Northern Ireland inshore region and this has been assessed as very close to reaching the objective of delivering an ecologically coherent network in Northern Ireland.

My Department has developed fisheries management measures for MPAs in the Northern Ireland inshore region and is introducing legislation to bring these measures into effect. The implementation of these will see further protection for key features within these sites.

A review of the Marine Protected Areas Strategy for Northern Ireland has also commenced through a facilitated co-design process with key stakeholders, and this will explore options for the inclusion of Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) and Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) within the Northern Ireland inshore region. It is anticipated that the consultation of the MPA Strategy will take place during 2023.