Media Release - 19 May
2009 - Environment
Minister Peter Garrett today announced the
establishment of the Coral Sea Conservation
Zone under national environmental law, protecting
the unique characteristics of the Coral
Sea while an assessment process is undertaken.
“The establishment of
this conservation zone demonstrates the
Australian Government’s continuing commitment
to protect and conserve Australia’s marine
environment,” Minister Garrett said.
“The Coral Sea Conservation
Zone will protect this environmentally significant
area from increasing pressures while the
marine bioregional planning process is undertaken,
with a final plan scheduled for completion
in 2010.”
The Coral Sea Conservation
Zone covers 972,000 km2 of Australian waters
and seabed east of the Great Barrier Reef
Marine Park, out to the edge of Australia’s
Exclusive Economic Zone.
“The pressures on our
oceans are increasing and we need to take
clear steps to protect our fragile marine
environments. Just last week, I was privileged
to witness six leaders of our neighbouring
countries agree to work cooperatively and
decisively to preserve their coral reefs
through the Coral Triangle Initiative” Mr
Garrett said.
Minister Garrett announced
the Conservation Zone while releasing the
East Marine Bioregional Profile at the Sydney
Aquarium. The profile is the first stage
of the marine bioregional planning process
for the region.
“The bioregional planning
process is part of Australia’s push to better
understand our marine resources from a scientific
and socio-economic perspective and the best
means of protecting them. This Bioregional
Profile identifies key habitats, species,
natural processes, heritage values and human
activities in the area,” Mr Garrett said.
The East Marine Region
covers 2.4 million square kilometres from
the Torres Strait to southern New South
Wales, and as far east as Norfolk Island.
The region encompasses the Coral Sea, but
does not include the Great Barrier Reef
Marine Park or the Torres Strait Protected
Zone.
“The East Profile shows
that the environmental significance of the
Coral Sea lies in its unique array of coral
reefs, atolls, deep sea plains and canyons,
and the extent to which the region’s natural
and heritage values have remained relatively
undisturbed by direct human impact,” Mr
Garrett said.
“It is for these reasons
I have taken the step of declaring the region
a conservation zone, protecting it from
increasing pressures while a detailed assessment
of the area is undertaken through the national
marine bioregional planning process.”
Mr Garrett said the
establishment of the Conservation Zone would
allow for detailed and extensive consultation
with local communities and stakeholders
before any permanent protection measures
are proposed.
“Acknowledging the concerns
of the affected stakeholders, the Conservation
Zone I am announcing today will not impact
on existing commercial, recreational or
traditional Indigenous fishing, or cruise
and merchant shipping in the area,” said
Mr Garrett.
“There will also be
no new regulatory impacts on commercial
activities such as charter boat and tourism
operations other than the requirement for
a permit, for which there is no cost. Further
consultation will be a critical part of
the marine bioregional planning process.”
“The next phase of the
marine bioregional planning process will
inform the development of the draft East
Marine Bioregional Plan. Any permanent protection
measures being considered for the East Marine
Region, including in the Coral Sea, will
be subject to extensive consultation during
this time,” he said.
To download a copy of
the East Bioregional Profile, visit: www.environment.gov.au/coasts/mbp/east/index.html
For more information about the Coral Sea
Conservation Zone, go to: www.environment.gov.au/coasts/coral-sea.html
Whale tagging tells
previously unknown story
Media Release - 21 May
2009 - Environment Minister Peter Garrett
today visited the Australian Antarctic Division's
Marine Mammal Centre to see first hand some
of Australia's innovative non-lethal whale
research.
For the first time Australian
scientists have recorded the path of humpback
whales from the Australian coast to their
feeding grounds near the Antarctic continent.
Mr Garrett said that
last October 16 whales were tagged near
Eden in New South Wales and their route
tracked for almost six months over an area
covering around 4000 kilometres.
"Scientists have
discovered that these whales from Australia's
east coast disperse more widely than previously
thought and outside the area traditionally
identified for this population by the International
Whaling Commission.
"This study, led
by the Australian Marine Mammal Centre Director
Dr Nick Gales, suggests the whales spend
more time feeding in temperate waters than
believed earlier - areas east of Flinders
Island off northeast Tasmania, and west
of Fiordland, New Zealand."
Dr Nick Gales said that
the distinct migration route to the productive
waters off New Zealand was not known before
this study. "The activity of humpback
whales within Bass Strait is much greater
than thought previously and is the first
study to show migration through Bass Strait
and also down Tasmania's west coast.
"These tags will
provide important information on the feeding
distribution and behaviour of humpback whales
in Antarctica and relationship between their
food source, krill, and retracting sea ice
during the summer melt," Dr Gales said.
Mr Garrett said that
whale tagging was one of a number of ways
the Australian Government was studying whale
populations, their distribution and migration
habits to maximise conservation outcomes
of Southern Ocean whales.
"Last December
I announced Australia was investing $32
million in non-lethal whale research and
the development of conservation initiatives
as part of a global collaboration with other
nations.
"More than $14
million has been directed to the recently-established
Southern Ocean Research Partnership which
will become the world's largest, non-lethal
cetacean research program. The focus of
the Partnership is to directly address the
conservation science of Southern Ocean whales.
"The Partnership
is a major component of an Australian initiative
to the International Whaling Commission
(IWC) reform agenda.
"This partnership
is making significant progress and at a
workshop in March this year developed its
objectives, research priorities and a procedural
framework which will now be assessed by
the IWC Scientific Committee. Almost all
nations with an interest in whale conservation
and management in the Southern Ocean are
participants.
"Australia believes
research partnerships are the way to bring
IWC member countries together in a coordinated
and cooperative way to deliver agreed, priority
science to the Scientific Committee and
the Commission," Mr Garrett said.
Planning is underway
for ship-based and aerial-based whale research
later this year. "We hope to see the
use of technologies such as the whale tagging
applied in the Southern Ocean as part of
this work," Mr Garrett said.
Mr Garrett said an additional
budget allocation of $36.9 million to the
Australian Antarctic Division over the next
two years ensures important Antarctic and
Southern Ocean science can continue.
Ms Julie Collins, Member
for Franklin, said: "The Division's
work, here in Franklin, has important flow-on
benefits for the Tasmanian economy.
"Up to $20 million
of that extra investment will flow directly
to Tasmania from the additional funding
to the Australian Antarctic Division announced
in the recent budget which is good news
not only for my electorate but for the entire
Tasmanian economy."
+ More
Australian icon gets
greater environmental protection
Media Release - 22 May
2009 - One of Australia's iconic native
species and the world's largest surviving
marsupial carnivore has been given increased
threatened status under national environment
law.
Environment Minister,
Peter Garrett today announced that the Tasmanian
devil will be uplisted to the endangered
category from vulnerable.
Mr Garrett said the
uplisting meant the species was under continued
threat and the population was continuing
to decline, but it would now get greater
protection under national environment law.
"My decision to
uplist the Tasmanian devil is based on advice
from the Threatened Species Scientific Committee
which lists the Devil Facial Tumour Disease
as the major threat to the devil.
"This disease has
led to the decline of about 70 per cent
of the Tasmanian devil population since
the disease was first reported in 1996.
"Fortunately, strong
action is being taken to find out more about
this disease and to stop its spread.
"The Australian
Government has already committed $10 million
over five years to the Save the Tasmanian
Devil program.
"This is to help
with research into disease transmission
and treatment, and will support captive
and wild populations.
"My department
will also continue to play an active role
as part of the steering committee which
implements the Save the Tasmanian Devil
program."
