marine conservation – Page 3 – National Parks Association of NSW

NSW Marine Parks Forum – my ocean journey as an NPA member

Posted by NPA NSWon August 31, 2022in Spring 2022Leave a comment

Nicole McMahon, NPA Member

It is an overwhelming experience when you begin your journey into becoming environmentally conscious. You discover the human impact on our environment is a polarising topic. So, for those wanting to make simple steps in the right direction, it can be difficult to gauge where to begin. I believe public forums, such as the NSW Marine Parks Forum, are a great place to start.

On July 1, I had the privilege of attending the NSW Marine Parks Forum, University of Technology Sydney, co-hosted by NPA NSW. The co-hosts included UTS’s School of Life Sciences, The Australian Marine Conservation Society, Nature Conservation Council of NSW, Ocean Youth, WWF-Australia and The Wilderness Society.

I heard from some incredible speakers making waves (pun intended) on our environment from Byron to Batemans Bay, as well as learning the shocking ways in which our Marine Parks are being impacted by higher officials neglecting, what is to many Australians, our backyard. I also learned that highly protected marine sanctuaries can thrive when they are supported by strong, connected communities like in Manly.

Claimed goal of protecting 30% of Australia’s ocean has not been met

Posted by NPA NSWon August 15, 2022August 15, 2022in Media ReleasesLeave a comment

National Parks Association of NSW (NPA) fully supports a letter by a group of 23 prominent marine scientists who are concerned that the government is using ‘paper parks’, or partially protected areas, to claim they have reached the goal of 30% marine protection.

NSW Marine Protected Areas: Our Underwater National Parks

Posted by NPA NSWon September 1, 2020August 31, 2020in Spring 2020Leave a comment

Sharnie Connell, Senior Campaigns Officer, National Parks Association of NSW

Many people are unaware that marine protected areas exist, or how they work. As the saying goes out of sight, out of mind. The value of national parks on land seems obvious, we currently have around 9% conservation area in terrestrial NSW but only 6% sanctuary in our NSW state waters.

The lesser known but absolutely stunning Great Southern Reef

Posted by NPA NSWon May 28, 2020in Winter 20201 Comment

Sharnie Connell, Senior Campaigns Officer

NPA is pleased to announce our campaigns team will be spending more time on our less visible but no less important marine conservation issues. Just like our terrestrial environment, the unrelenting attacks on our underwater conservation networks are continuing. At this time, when we know we need to be protecting more of our natural world than ever before, the pressure to open up remaining pockets of sanctuary to allow them to be exploited has never been greater.

NSW Government to decimate marine protected areas

Posted by NPA NSWon December 13, 2019in Media ReleasesLeave a comment

The National Parks Association of NSW (NPA) has expressed outrage at the recent announcement by the NSW Minister for Agriculture, Adam Marshall that vital sanctuary zones in Batemans Marine Park, including iconic Montague Island will be scrapped.

Cultural Access to Aquatic Resources in NSW

Posted by NPA NSWon August 29, 2019August 20, 2019in Spring 2019Leave a comment

Hayley Egan, Barefeet

There are many misconceptions surrounding cultural access to aquatic resources both in NSW and throughout Australia. Many people assume that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have unlimited access or no rules when it comes to harvesting resources. In NSW this couldn’t be further from the truth. There is no single set of guidelines, legislation or regulations to govern cultural access. Native Title over water in NSW has for the first time been formally acknowledged in determinations in 2019. The details of the access rights to those claimants are slowly filtering through. Currently in NSW waters Aboriginal Cultural Fishing is acknowledged as a fishery along with Commercial and Recreational Fisheries. Though unlike the other two there are no regulations to govern access rights for the sector. Since 2010 there have been Interim Access Arrangements, which have evolved slightly over the last nine years. However, these are not legally binding like regulations, and as a result there are a lot of grey areas in their interpretation. This has led to the community mistrusting the Department and being in the dark about their rights within the fishery.