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Have your say on SA's Marine Parks - our kit helping you to be part of the process is ready for download.

Click on this image to download the kit as a pdf (589 kb)

After years of research and consultation the SA Government released the management plans including zoning for SA’s 19 new Marine Parks on 26th August 2012.

This represents a crucial stage in the history of marine conservation in South Australia. As a community that cares about the future of our marine life we have until the 22nd of October to make comment on the proposed management plans, including zoning.

Marine Sanctuaries

The Parks are designed within a ‘multiple use’ framework with areas within each park zoned for different uses. The centerpiece of the Marine Parks network is the Sanctuary Zones. These are the core areas of high conservation value that will deliver the best protection for our precious marine life and ecosystems. Habitat protection zones are there as a ‘buffer’ for the core sanctuary zone areas and restrict some potentially damaging uses.
It is important that as many people as possible express their support for sanctuary zones to ensure that these important areas are protected for the future.

The latest from The Wilderness Society regarding SA Marine Parks is available at: www.wilderness.org.au/samarine

This kit is designed to help those wanting to make a detailed and personalised submission to the consultation process. For those seeking a quicker easier way to have your say you can use our pro-forma online action available online by visiting www.wilderness.org.au/samarine or scanning the code on the last page of the kit.

Download the kit as a pdf (589kb) print version

or

Download a slightly smaller version (for those on slow connections) pdf (318kb)

Thank you for caring and having your say in this important process.

The South Australian Campaign Team

 

Kit text: the information below is more easily read by downloading the pdf version of the kit. It is reproduced here for those with very limited downloads and to assist with people seeking this information via a search engine.

To assist you to have your say we outline below some of the points you may wish to make in your input into the process. These are arranged by issue, suggested response and supporting references.

The Sanctuary Zones as outlined in the management plans - general comments

• I support the introduction of Sanctuaries within South Australia’s Marine Parks. Sanctuaries are the core protection in any marine parks network;
• I note that the proportion of State Waters proposed to be protected in Sanctuaries is well short of the level recommended by international scientific consensus and international agreements. Any decrease to the number or size of Sanctuaries within the current proposal would be entirely unacceptable;
• Furthermore, I recommend that Sanctuaries be increased in size and number where possible.

The Sanctuary Zones as outlined in the management plans - specific comments

I would like to highlight my support for large Sanctuaries in areas of high conservation value including:
• Nuyts Reef, SZ1 Nuyts Archipelago Marine Park;
• Isles of St Francis, SZ8 Nuyts Archipelago Marine Park;
• Pearson Island, SZ1 Investigator Marine Park;
• KI upwelling, Cape du Couedic, Cape Borda, SZ1, SZ3, SZ2  Western Kangaroo Island Marine Park;
• Seal Bay RAZ1 and SZ1 Southern Kangaroo Island Marine Park;
• Coorong / Murray mouth, SZ7.

Areas deserving of Marine Sanctuary protection not covered in the proposed plans

SA has many special marine places that will not be adequately protected by the draft plans. In particular areas excluded from the current proposal that should be protected in Sanctuaries include:

• Franklin and Eyre Islands off the Ceduna coast, within and nearby HPZ8 Nuyts Archipelago Marine Park;
• Top Gallant Isles off the Elliston coast, located within HPZ2 Investigator Marine Park;
• Cape Blanche and Nicholas Baudin Island including the coastline adjacent to the Cape Blanche and Nicholas Baudin Island Conservation Parks within HPZ1 West Coast Bays Marine Park;
• The coastline adjacent to Cape Gantheaume Wilderness Area on Kangaroo Island, located in Habitat Protection Zone HPZ2 within Southern Kangaroo Island Marine Park,
• The waters of D’estrees Bay within HPZ1 Southern Kangaroo Island Marine Park;
• Nepean Bay (Cygnet River Mouth) within HPZ5 and GMUZ5 Encounter Marine Park;
• The coastline adjacent to Deep Creek Conservation Park, within HPZ5 Encounter Marine Park;
• The coastline adjacent to Innes National Park, within HPZ2 Southern Spencer Gulf Marine Park.
• Giant Cuttlefish breeding grounds, extension of SZ-6 within the Upper Spencer Gulf Marine park
• More protection for the Murray Mouth region, extension of SZ-7 within the HPZ 6 and GMUZ-7 zones, within the Encounter Marine park