Executive Summary
Western Australia’s south coast has had a long time to generate its biological riches – with about 80 million years of isolation from other continents and a long-equitable climate that has allowed it to avoid mass extinction events resulting from glaciation and ice sheets. Superimposed onto this long-term stability, high levels of disturbance (strong winds and waves), environmental fluctuations, and diverse habitats are likely to have fostered species diversification. The diverse habitats have been crafted by contrasting geologies (granite, gneiss and limestone), diverse landforms (including reefs, cliffs, pinnacles, islands and beaches), varying levels of exposure to wind and waves, and a great variety of habitat-forming species (seagrasses, kelps, rhodoliths).
Provided that the Traditional Owners of the south coast regard a jointly managed marine park in their sea countries as desirable, we recommend that the proposed park encompasses waters from the South Australian border to west of Bremer Bay (east of Albany). Covering about 14,000 km2, it would overlap the sea country of the Wagyl Kyp and Southern Noongar, The Esperance Nyungars, Ngadju and WA Mirning People. Planned in consultation with, established with the consent of, and jointly managed with Traditional Owners, this park should be designed to protect their enduring connections to sea country and increase their capacity to meet ongoing custodial responsibilities.
In this report, we make generic recommendations about zoning – based on the conservation importance of sizeable sanctuary zones and the opportunities for complementary sanctuaries across jurisdictions – and we identify broad areas with high values that warrant consideration for sanctuary protection. But we do not make specific recommendations about where sanctuaries should be placed or how large they should be. Zoning recommendations should be based on consideration of many other factors (eg existing uses, cultural, social and recreational values, economic consequences) and require meaningful consultation with stakeholders, including recreational and commercial fishers and the tourism and dive industries.
Report
Environmental values of Western Australia’s proposed south coast marine park.
