James Sherwood, Conservation Campaigner
NPA NSW recently completed co-hosting the Love Our Sanctuaries film nights with the Australian Marine Conservation Society, highlighting the low levels of marine sanctuary protection across NSW’s six bioregions. Nine events were held across twelve days, stretching from Coffs Harbour to Merimbula. Over 1,200 people registered for the free events which were all well attended.
The events targeted key state electorates that are adjacent to NSW’s marine protected areas, such as the Hawkesbury Shelf bioregion and the Twofold Shelf bioregion as well as electorates held by the current NSW Labor government.
The nights aimed to educate and inspire people to get more actively involved in protecting their backyards, with participants asked to send a letter to NSW’s Minister for Environment and the Minister for Agriculture. The events resulted in hundreds of letters being sent off to the ministers over the two-week period demanding a change in direction for marine protection in NSW.
Additionally, a few new local marine sanctuary groups have emerged in response to these events, such as in Wollongong, Bondi and Merimbula, strongly welcomed by the NSW Marine Sanctuary Alliance. If you would like to get more involved in a marine focused group, please get in touch at jamess@npansw.org.au.
Greater supporter involvement is welcomed, as over the past decade, protection for the NSW marine environment has been wound back, an issue NPA NSW has been painstakingly trying to resolve. In 2011, a Solitary Islands zoning upgrade was rescinded, resulting in the loss of large areas of sanctuary zone. Then in 2012, an amnesty was put in place that resulted in 30 sanctuary zones being opened to fishing across the state’s beaches and headlands. Then a few years later another amnesty was announced, opening up a further six sanctuary zones in the Batemans Marine Park including around Montague Island, which is habitat for the critically endangered Grey Nurse Shark. Unfortunately, this trend continued with the drafting of a new marine parks management plan that shifted the focus away from biodiversity conservation and more towards resource management.
To date, the NSW Labor government has failed to act on abandoning the former government’s approach to marine protection in NSW. NPA NSW has worked closely with the Australian Marine Conservation Society to ensure that the release of any new marine park management plans in NSW are in line with the globally recognised Comprehensive, Adequate and Representative (CAR) principles to guide protected area planning. This would ensure that Australia remains on track to meet its global commitments to protect 30% of its land and sea territory by 2030.
To get more involved get in touch with jamess@npansw.org.au and please scan the QR Code below and fill in the details.