Big, Bold and Blue: an assessment of Australia's MPAs

Australia has often been lauded at home and internationally as a world leader in the declaration and management of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) - beginning with the declaration of the first sections of the Great Barrier Reef... [ view full abstract ]

Australia has often been lauded at home and internationally as a world leader in the declaration and management of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) - beginning with the declaration of the first sections of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park in the mid-1970s through to the massive off shore MPAs declared in the nation’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in mid-2012.
In order to document this history and to aid other nations, as well as Australia, in further progressing MPAs the authors of this presentation are editing a new book, to be published early next year by CSIRO Publishing titled: “Big, Bold and Blue: lessons from Australia’s marine park expansion”.
This presentation will describe the challenges and lessons to be learned from Australia’s development of MPAs. The presentation will be divided into several sections reflecting the outline of the book and include:
- International and national historical and current context for MPAs,
- Descriptions of Australia’s MPA system including specifically the Commonwealth MPA System, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and Antarctica and the “High Seas”,
- A state by state (and territory) description of the MPA systems inside state coastal waters,
- Differing Perspectives on Australian MPAs through a series of reviews including the economic case for MPAs, the science of MPA identification and declaration MPA, legislation covering MPAs, MPAs from an Indigenous Sea Country and marine IPAs perspective, recreational and commercial fishing and fishers perspective, as well as:
- Essays on marine bioregional planning and oceans policy, public perceptions of MPAs and marine conservation and reflections on case studies on successful campaigns to establish MPAs.
The presentation will conclude with analysis of future challenges confronting Australian MPAs including what gaps still remain in the system and the on-going policy and management challenges.