Australia (Bioregions)
Marine Bioregional Plans
Since early 2000, Australia (in ocean areas outside the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park) has started to use the concept of marine bio-regionalization (pdf, 16 MB) as a platform for the development of marine spatial planning.
Bio-regionalization aims at describing the spatial patterns in the benthic (on or near the sea floor) and pelagic environments at scales appropriate to marine spatial planning.
What stimulated spatial planning in Australia's marine regions?
Bio-regionalization is used, among other purposes, to define ecologically-based planning and management units, to map their location, structure and composition, to provide the basis to select biologically and ecologically important areas for protection, to provide a systematic framework for finer-scale planning and management of ocean uses, and to provide a spatial framework for environmental assessments.
The bio-regionalization process has the overall objective to provide a “clearer focus on conservation and sustainable management of the marine environment and offer greater certainty for industry”. The process also includes the identification and establishment of marine protected areas in each bioregion.
Development of spatial planning in Australia's marine regions
In 2005, the government brought its program of regional marine planning under Australia's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act of 1999 (EPBC). Bringing marine planning under the EPBC is intended to develop an understanding of the key marine conservation values within the marine regions and the corresponding priorities for their protection. The plans developed under this act are known as “marine bioregional plans”.
Based on the outcomes of the bio-regionalization process, the waters around Australia have been divided into five marine regions (see map):
| South-east Marine Region | (1,600,000 km2) |
| South-west Marine Region | (1,300,000 km2) |
| North-west Marine Region | (1,070,000 km2) |
| North Marine Region | (715,000 km2) |
| East Marine Region | (2,400,000 km2) |
Each marine region is further divided into “bioregions” based on ecological similarities, species distributions, and oceanographic and seafloor characteristics.
The boundaries of the bioregions reflect an understanding of the ecology of each region and are intended to underpin the bioregional planning process. The development of marine bioregional plans is comprised of three main stages:
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Bioregional Profile
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Provides details about the various statutory obligations with regard to nature protection
and other marine spatial management measures.
It also sets out the objectives for the identification of a network of marine protected areas
in the region.
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Draft Plan
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Contains a strategic regional assessment of conservation values and current and emerging
pressures on the marine environment.
The assessment of the draft plan identifies key conservation and heritage priorities for each
marine region and the range of legislative and administrative tools available to manage them.
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Bioregional Plan
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Is completed after public consultation of the draft plan. It identifies conservation values in the
region, priorities and measures for the protection of these values, a network of marine protected
areas, and a set of sustainability indicators that will be used to assess the health of the marine
environment into the future.
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Bioregional profiles have been completed for the South-west Marine Region, the North Marine Region, and the North-west Marine Region. Bioregional profiles and plans for the other regions will be completed by 2012.
No bioregional plan will be developed for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park since it is already zoned and managed through its own legislation. The existing plan for the South-east Marine Region (see separate description) released in 2004 will be evaluated to see how it fits into the new bioregional approach and a decision will be made about when to bring the South-east Marine Region plan under the EPBC Act.
Further information
For further information go to the website of the Australian Department of the Environment, Water Heritage, and the Arts.
Additional reading is also available on the references page of this website.
Last updated: 28 January 2010