Yesterday, the Premier, Dr Geoff Gallop, released the long-awaited draft
Management Plan for Ningaloo Marine Park. It proposes extensions to the
Park and to sanctuary zones (areas where commercial and recreational fishing
are not permitted). The Premier also released a research package to enable
scientists to better understand Ningaloo�s marine ecosystems, including
work on whale shark conservation and to better understand the impacts of
fishing.
Paul
Gamblin, Save Ningaloo Campaign spokesperson said, �By proposing the extensions,
the government is acknowledging that without strong action now, Ningaloo�s
health will suffer. Although we welcome the much-needed injection of funds
for research and consider the marine park plan a good starting point for
discussion, the question still facing the community is: will this plan
be enough to save Ningaloo?�
�The
Save Ningaloo Campaign believes that a lot of work will have to be done
over the next three months to improve the plan to a point where it will
be effective. Most importantly, the total proportion of sanctuary zones
needs to be increased in light of scientific advice, but it�s also crucial
to ensure that the zones are appropriately located to protect different
types of habitat.�
�The
Townsville Declaration � a statement from eminent scientists from universities
and research institutes including James Cook, Stanford and the Smithsonian
Institution � advised that between 30 and 50% of coral reefs should be
protected in sanctuary zones. Furthermore, prevailing scientific opinion
is that bag limits, alone, do not provide sufficient protection.�
�One
of the other missed opportunities in the plan is the proposal for a lesser
form of protection for the Muiron Islands off the northern section of
Ningaloo. These islands have strong ecological linkages with Ningaloo
and are home to incredible coral lagoons and nesting sites for endangered
turtles, and needs as much protection as the rest of Ningaloo Reef, not
less.�
�Scientists
know how much area of coral reefs need to be protected in sanctuary zones
but the rigorous analysis to know where the zones should be placed, such
as that undertaken at the Great Barrier Reef, has not yet been done at
Ningaloo.�
�The
good news is, the plan can be made to work so long as the government is
open to scientific advice and committed to undertaking extensive community
consultation through workshops and face-to-face meetings wherever possible,
so that no one is left out. That includes fishers, divers, campers and
everyone else with an interest in Ningaloo.�
�If
we want to have a healthy, world-class reef where a family on holiday
can see Ningaloo�s incredible wildlife and still get a feed of fish, we
must be responsible now. We should remember that tourism is the biggest
industry in the region so it makes good business sense to look after Ningaloo
for that reason alone.�
Information
for editors
Warnings about the plight of coral reefs and the need to increase sanctuary
zones have been reported in recent editions of esteemed publications such
as Science and Nature:
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��our results demonstrate that coral reef ecosystems will not
survive for more than a few decades unless they are promptly and massively
protected from human exploitation.�
In this article, overfishing was identified once again as one of the main
causes of reef degradation worldwide. (Hughes T. P. et al, �Climate change,
human impacts, and the resilience of coral reefs� p. 957, Science, vol.
301, no. 5635, 15 August 2003).
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�...the rate of establishment and size of NTAs [sanctuary zones] needs
to be hugely increased.�
(Bellwood et al, �Confronting the coral reef crisis�, Nature, vol. 429,
24 June, 2004, p. 831).
The article pointed to the recent, large increase in sanctuary zones at
the Great Barrier Reef as a good model.
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