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10 Criteria for the World's Best Oceanic Marine Park

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10 Criteria for the World's Best Oceanic Marine Park 10 Criteria for the World’s Best Oceanic Marine Park Australia’s Coral Sea is a large marine region that is extraordinarily biologically rich and deserves the best possible management and protection Australia can provide. Its main feature is a series of spectacular reefs rising thousands of metres from the seafl oor that play host to the marine environment’s most charismatic megafauna including whales, sharks and turtles. The Coral Sea not only presents us with the rare example of a marine environment that is thriving, but more signifi cantly, the rare opportunity to protect and conserve habitats that elsewhere in the world are seriously depleted as a consequence of human activities. This document identifi es 10 criteria to create a Marine Park that will help to maintain the exceptional tourism, scientifi c and economic values of the area and again see Australia proudly setting the pace internationally for marine protection. ONE MILLION KM2: The Coral Sea Marine Park should encompass the area eastwards from 1. the outer boundary of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park to the extent of Australia’s Exclusive Economic Zone – an area of approximately 1 million square kilometres. The world’s best oceanic marine park should be seamlessly connected to the world’s best coastal marine park. BEST IN THE BUSINESS: The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) should 2. play an integral role in the planning and management of a Coral Sea Marine Park. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP) is physically adjacent to the Coral Sea - many Coral Sea habitats, communities and ecosystems extend into the GBRMP. Delegation of responsibility for the Coral Sea Marine Park would be a natural extension of current roles and responsibilities of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA). GBRMPA is widely recognised as ‘the best in the business’ with a proven history of delivering world-class outcomes in terms of the design and management of a large tropical marine park. $10 MILLION: Adequate funding of at least ten million dollars per annum should be allocated to 3. the best placed agencies to adequately protect, manage and enforce a Coral Sea Marine Park. Adequate funding of at least 10 million dollars per annum should be allocated to the best placed agencies, like GBRMPA, to cover management costs associated with the successful running of the Coral Sea Marine Park. Mechanisms should be in place to ensure complementary management, coordination and information sharing. Appropriate agencies should be adequately funded to deliver effective enforcement and compliance. Management should be seamless from the inshore reefs to the open seas. NO MINING: Mineral, oil and gas exploration and extraction should be prohibited within a 4. Coral Sea Marine Park. Legislative and protective measures should be put in place to ensure mineral, oil and gas exploration and extraction is prohibited from areas adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef and in the entire Coral Sea Marine Park. Lydia Gibson | WWF Australia | Policy Manager Tropical Marine and Coasts [email protected] | Tel: +61 (0) 2 8202 1277 | Fax: +61 (0) 2 9281 1060 | Mob: +61 (0) 4 0638 2498 NO TIME TO WASTE: A Coral Sea Marine Park should be declared by June 30, 2009 5. and the zonation completed by June 2011 HIGHLY PROTECTED: Sufficiently large areas of the Coral Sea Marine Park should be 6. contained within highly protected ‘no take’ areas The Coral Sea is recognised as a global hotspot for marine biological diversity, and yet borders other marine regions that are seriously depleted. A Coral Sea Marine Park should: • ensure adequate protection for large pelagic and migratory species that inhabit the Coral Sea • maintain the robust and intact marine ecosystems presently in the Coral Sea to help benefit the health of national and international marine regions • ease management and enforcement requirements whilst setting new global benchmarks in marine conservation ALL ABOUT THE NETWORK: The Coral Sea Marine Park should be part of a network 7. of ‘no take’ areas across the South West Pacific designed to confer resilience, support connectivity and maintain ecological processes MPA networks must be designed to maintain or restore the natural state of an ecosystem and to absorb shocks, particularly in the face of large-scale and long term changes (such as climate change). The migratory ‘connective corridors’ for wide ranging oceanic species such as black marlin and green turtles must be highly protected - from breeding to feeding grounds. Ecological processes that help sustain biological productivity in the Coral Sea must be also be protected in the network. UNIQUE = PROTECTED: All places that are special and unique in the Coral Sea 8. should be highly protected Areas within the Coral Sea that are particularly distinctive or important, such as unique and special areas from a biodiversity, geomorphology or natural heritage potential, should receive additional protection. SAFEHAVEN FOR THE ENDANGERED: All threatened, endangered protected and 9. at-risk species should be protected The Coral Sea is home to a wide range of threatened, endangered, protected and at-risk species such as whales, sharks and turtles. Additional conservation and management measures should be in place to ensure the protection and persistence of these species both within the Coral Sea Marine Park and throughout their range. Boot Reef Ashmore Reef WHOLLY Papua New Guinea EEZ 10. REPRESENTATIVE: Soloman Islands EEZ All marine ecosystems, Osprey Reef habitat types, Vanuatu EEZ Cooktown Bougainville Reef PROPOSED CORAL SEA communities, populations, Moore Reefs Dianne Bank Willis Reef Port Douglas Holmes Reefs MARINE PARK Flora Reefs Coringa-Herald NNR species and genetic Cairns Coringa Reef Lihou Reef NNR Lihou Reef Flinders Reef Tregrosse Reef diversity should be South Flinders Reef Abington Reef represented in no-take Australia EEZ Townsville Marion Reef areas within a Coral Sea New Caledonia Queensland Marine Park Mackay Great Barrier Reef Suamarez Reef Marine Park Rockhampton Gladstone.
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