Campaigns
Marine Sanctuaries: Latest

Next Page>>
<<Previous page

Wednesday February 26 2009

300 supporters joined NPA for a one night only special screening of Blue Water White Death. The night was to support our Sydney Marine Park campaign. Joining the sellout fundraiser were stars of the movie and world-renowned conservationists Valerie and Ron Taylor.

Friday January 16 2009

The Australia Marine Sciences Association (AMSA) has again reiterated their support for marine parks. Claiming they are 'concerned' at the amount of misinformation currently circulating in the media on this topic, they have again called on the NSW Government to create more marine parks and sanctuaries for NSW.

Friday 26 September 2008

NPA~Marine welcomes the announcement of Deputy Premier Carmel Tebbutt as NSW Minister for the Environment. We strongly hope that appointing the Deputy Premier as Minister for the Environment signals a new era of marine conservation for NSW, following a period of inaction by the previous cabinet. We look forward to seeing some positive steps forward by the Minister with regard to the commitment made by the NSW goverment to creating a marine protected areas network for our waters.

NPA~Marine recently commented on the mass public outcry for Sydney's stranded baby humpback whale with an article on Real Dirt, an environmental website. This article questions the triggers which provoke a reaction to protecting our wildlife. You can read the full article by clicking here

Friday 1 August 2008

Two important research findings from the Great Barrier Reef have emerged that provide great supporting evidence for the benefits of fully protected marine sanctuaries after the 2004 rezoning of 33% of the marine park as a protected zone. Most recently, scientists have discovered that there are fewer outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish, a devastating predator of the GBR, in areas of the park where fishing is banned.

For more on this exciting discovery, please click here.

In another boost to the case for the benefits of marine sanctuaries, researchers have also reported a huge recovery of coral trout numbers in recently created sanctuary zones in the GBR. Coral trout is a species targeted by both recreational and commercial fishers.

Read the New Scientist article, "Barrier Reef 'no-take' zones see leap in fish numbers", to find out more.

The critically endangered Grey Nurse Shark is a good example of a species that could greatly benefit from the establishment of more marine sanctuaries because both commercial and recreational fishing can negatively impact grey nurse shark survival. Marine sanctuaries could provide the grey nurse with the protection it needs to recover.

In a recent amazing feat, staff of the Byron Bay Dive Centre, Seaworld, and DPI Fisheries, successfully removed a large fishing gaff from the throat of a grey nurse shark off Julian Rocks in Byron Bay.

For more of this amazing story, please click here.

Monday 2 June 2008

Professor of Marine Ecology at UTS, David Booth, lends another strong voice to the supporters of Marine Parks and stamps out the anti-marine park rhetoric.

To read Professor Booth's article, please click here

Sydney Harbour is a unique gem in its diversity amidst an urban environment. A variety of on-going scientific research continues to reveal the underwater spectacle of marine life that makes Sydney Harbour so special on the international stage.

Read the Sydney Morning Herald article, "What lies beneath", to find out more.

Wednesday 21 May 2008

The Australian Marine Sciences Association (AMSA) NSW recently issued a position statement in full support of marine protected areas and no-take marine sanctuaries. AMSA is Australia's largest association of marine scientists and this statement is particularly important at a time when the New South Wales government is reviewing the zoning plans for the state's first two marine parks - Solitary Islands Marine Park and Jervis Bay Marine Park.

Download a copy of AMSA NSW's statement by clicking here (PDF 89KB)

Submissions regarding Solitary Islands Marine Park and Jervis Bay Marine Park are due by June 2nd. This is the first opportunity to comment on the parks since they were created in 1998 and there will not be another opportunity before 2018. To have your say about the future of the two parks, please click here

Wednesday 19 December 2007

Valerie Taylor, renowned marine conservationist and NPA~Marine Patron, launched the first of two landmark reports that presents the results of research and analysis into the threats to, and conservation of, NSW’s oceans.

This first report – The Torn Blue Fringe: Building Resilience - sets out 19 recommendations to sustainably manage our marine environment.

The second report which will be released in the second half of 2008 will spell out NPA~Marine’s new vision for the protection of the NSW marine environment.

“The report critiques fisheries management and marine conservation efforts and reviews international studies on the urgent need for greater areas of marine sanctuaries and their benefits,” said the report’s author Paul Winn, Marine Sanctuaries Campaigner for the National Parks Association of NSW (NPA).

“It highlights the growing consensus that marine sanctuaries are the best way of recovering marine ecosystems and building resilience to minimise some of the worst impacts of climate change.”

“NPA~Marine, as part of a community-based conservation organisation looks forward to working with the NSW Government and other stakeholder groups, in ensuring we put in place proper protection measures now to ensure a healthy future for NSW oceans.

Key Issues Raised in Report
- NSW marine biodiversity will be hardest hit by temperature increases through climate change and therefore it is more important here than any other Australian marine jurisdiction that we restore our depleted marine ecosystems.
- Most southern temperate Australian species (ie 60-95%) are found nowhere else in the world. We need to protect our internationally significant marine environment.
- Sanctuaries are most effective way to build healthy ecosystems and ensure the viability of the marine-based industries which rely on them.
- The NSW Government is only starting to build its sanctuary network with only 6.7% of our oceans in these fully protected waters. The World Conservation Union recommends a minimum 20% sanctuary protection.
- Many NSW habitats and ecosystems under represented in existing marine protected areas.
- The NSW Government has committed to comprehensive, adequate and representative system of marine protected areas. NPA~Marine calls on this policy to be implemented.

Download a copy of the report by clicking here (PDF 2MB)

Next Page>>
<<Previous page