[Coral-List] No Take Areas expanded in Australia

[Hughes, Terry]

The Australian Commonwealth government has reached the final stages of zoning the country's huge EEZ, with the announcement this week of a new no-take reserve (about the size of Spain) in the Coral Sea. The total no-take area around Australia will be about 13%, although this figure is heavily skewed by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (which remains at 33% no-take) and the new Coral Sea Marine Park (51% no-take). Temperate areas have much lower levels of protection. http://www.environment.gov.au/coasts/mbp/reserves/index.html

In the meantime, UNESCO has raised the prospect of adding the Great Barrier Reef to its list of World Heritage Sites in Danger because of poorly regulated coastal and port development in Queensland.
https://theconversation.edu.au/new-marine-reserves-wont-address-unescos-reef-concerns-7638

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Prof. Terry Hughes FAA
Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
James Cook University
Townsville, QLD 4811, AUSTRALIA
Fax: 61 (0) 4781-6722
tel: 61 (0)7-4781-4000
http://www.coralcoe.org.au/

The ARC Centre will host the next International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS) in Australia in July 2012