National call for marine park sanctuary zones in SA

The Wilderness Society (South Australia) Inc
Media Release
6 May 2009

Conservation groups from across Australia came together today to reaffirm their support for a South Australian network of marine parks, which has at its core, a system of highly protected no-take sanctuary zones. 

While congratulating the Rann Government on its commitment to marine parks, the conservation groups emphasised that sanctuaries within the parks must satisfy criteria set out in their South Australian Marine Conservation Consensus Statement, originally released back in 2006. 

Also today, the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) is meeting in Adelaide. The WCPA meeting will be discussing South Australia’s marine parks program and comparing its progress with the IUCN’s international marine protection targets.  The WCPA is the world’s premier network of protected area expertise and has over 1400 members spanning 140 countries.  

In 2003, the IUCN World Parks Congress recommended that all nations establish networks of no-take marine sanctuaries covering at least 20-30% of each habitat type across the globe.  While the State Government has released outer-boundaries for South Australia’s new marine parks, it has not yet made any commitments about the extent of highly protected sanctuary zones within these parks. 

The Wilderness Society SA’s Campaign Manager, Peter Owen speaking at today’s event said, “It is absolutely critical that South Australia plays its part in meeting global no-take conservation targets. We need real protection for our marine environment - not paper parks with insignificant sanctuary zones”.

Michelle Grady from the international PEW Environment Group said that “South Australian waters are incredibly unique, over 85% of SA’s marine species are found nowhere else on Earth – their protection is a matter of local, national and international importance”.

“Large marine sanctuaries are essential to maintaining the health of the marine environment, helping fish stocks recover and providing insurance against future impacts such as climate change” said David Letch from the local west coast group, Friends of Sceale Bay.

Signatories to Media Release:

Australian Conservation Foundation
Australian Marine Conservation Society
Conservation Council of South Australia
Fishers for Conservation
Friends of Corvisat Bay
Friends of Newland Head Conservation Park
Friends of Sceale Bay
Greenpeace Australia Pacific
Marine Life Society of South Australia
Nature Conservation Society of South Australia
PEW Environment Group
The Wilderness Society (SA) Inc
Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society