The Australian Government has taken a necessary and significant step towards protecting Australia’s oceans by announcing a national network of marine reserves, says Australia’s peak marine conservation group, the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS).
“Today the tide turned in favour of our oceans. This is a landmark announcement for our seas and one of the most significant advances for environmental protection in Australia’s history,” said Darren Kindleysides, Director of AMCS.
“With an ocean territory twice the size of our land, and marine life that is the richest on the planet, Australians have a lot to be proud of. Today’s unprecedented announcement recognises that business as usual is failing to protect our oceans – that Australia needs a national system of marine reserves to safeguard our marine life for future generations”.
“As a nation we’ve come a long way since coral mining was proposed for the Great Barrier Reef and commercial whaling occurred in our waters. The progress made today shows that as a country we’ve continued to act to protect what is most special about our oceans. Australia’s marine life needs real respite from overfishing and industrial development.”
Some critically important areas like the Coral Sea – the ‘Serengeti of the Seas’ – will be safeguarded from damaging activities like bottom trawling, oil and gas exploration and seabed mining.
“The near-pristine wilderness of our tropical Coral Sea is one of the last remaining places on Earth where populations of large ocean fish and healthy coral reefs still thrive. We can be proud that future generations will be able look back and realise that we protected such globally important seas while we had the chance,”
A national network of marine reserves has been in the making since the 1990s. The Howard Government began the process of establishing a national network of marine parks to compliment the protection already given through the national parks system to areas on land. The Gillard Government has taken a giant stride towards completing that process.
“While some important areas have been left vulnerable to fishing or mining, the proposed reserves network is a significant step forward for marine conservation in Australia and on the world stage. We will keep striving to protect important areas that have been missed, including critical turtle and dugong habitat in the Gulf of Carpentaria, blue whale feeding grounds off Kangaroo Island and incredible coral reefs off the Kimberley coast.”
The announcement has a solid foundation in science and public consultation.
“Australians love our oceans, and as a community we’ve responded with overwhelming support for greater protection for our seas and their wildlife. Over half a million people from here and overseas have called for greater protection for Australia’s oceans during consultations over the marine reserves network.”
