Download All at sea: oceans law in Australia

EDO Seminar Series 2009
17 February 2009
All at sea: oceans law in Australia
Chris Smyth
Marine Campaign Coordinator
Australian Conservation Foundation
State of marine environment 1995
• Declining water quality due to inappropriate catchment land use
• Loss of habitat
• Unsustainable use of resources
• Lack of science policy and long‐term research and monitoring
• Lack of strategic, integrated planning in the marine and coastal environments
State of Environment 2001 emerging issues
• Development of aquaculture
• Climate change eg. coral bleaching & damage to infrastructure
• Development of fishing technology
• Ecological effects of marine pests
• Continuing weak attempts at integration of management
• Involvement of Indigenous people in fisheries management
State of Environment 2006: key issues
• No comprehensive, nationally consistent system for measuring condition/trends of ocean ecosystems and key resources they support
• Current forecasts of climate change suggest major impacts on coral reefs and cold water
• Measures to restrict exotic species transfer must continue both internationally and domestically.
• Trends in fisheries and bycatch negative, efforts to reverse these trends should be enhanced • No surprises or new issues since 2001, need to resolve existing problems as strong as ever to stem slow decline of environmental quality
Current oceans law framework
• Strongly sector‐ and jurisdiction‐based • Regional marine planning neither ecosystem‐
based nor integrated across sectors & jurisdictions, both key aspects of Oceans Policy, undermining progress to sustainability
• ESD and EBM poorly reflected in current legislation (Marine legislative review)
• Lack integration in resource allocation, management, planning and conservation
• Australia’s Oceans Policy of 1998 now dead in the water
Oceans planning and protection in 2009
• Only one regional marine plan (weak) • Other marine plans in preparation ‐ not integrated or cross‐sectoral dealing only with conservation values
• Little progress towards ecosystem‐based management • Incomplete and ineffective MPA network (which began its roll‐out in 1991!) – mostly in tropical or sub‐Antarctic waters and covering only 4% of EEZ in no‐take (World Parks Congress target 20‐
30% of each habitat by 2012)
• SE marine reserves inadequately protect region
Reforming Australia’s oceans law
• ACF and the National Environmental Law Association have proposed a new approach that would integrate sector‐based and multi‐
jurisdictional oceans planning and protection and cross artificial boundaries
• An Intergovernmental Agreement on Australian Oceans , an Australian Oceans Act and an Australian Oceans Authority
• New planning arrangements to achieve national objectives, standards, benchmarks and milestones
Oceans eleven: Reviewed implementation of Australia’s oceans policy & ecosystem‐based regional marine planning that recommended eleven step process for regional marine panning & the establishment of an oceans act & oceans authority
Marine legislative review: Cth and State marine‐
related environmental laws in key sectors inadequate in providing for ESD, ecosystem‐
based management and multiple‐user management. Few provisions for other impacts, cumulative effects or biophysical constraints
Intergovernmental Agreement on Australia’s Oceans
• Signing by Commonwealth, State and Territory governments through Council of Australian Governments • Signatories would commit to pass Australian Oceans Authority Act to create nationally consistent and integrated legislative planning and protection provisions across state, territory and Commonwealth waters
An Australian Oceans Act
• Legislative framework for ecosystem‐based regional marine planning and implementation of Australia’s Oceans Policy
• Australian Oceans Authority with strong and clear directive and enforcement powers to pilot planning
• Collaborative, consistent, cooperative, accountable and transparent (certainty/security )
• Environmental performance targets and standards that give certainty & security
• Marine national parks as core protection
• Vital role for Indigenous communities
Australian Oceans Authority
• Coordinate, prepare, review, monitor, audit marine planning to ensure ecologically sustainable, EBM of all uses and impacts affecting oceans
• Oversee resource allocation for ecologically sustainable uses in each marine region
• Prepare ‘State of the oceans’ reports
• Establish, accredit and audit nationally consistent and integrated oceans regulatory and assessment and approvals processes
• Reports to NRMCC; marine plans & reports tabled in Parliament
Regional marine plans
• Ecosystem based, adaptive with 5‐ and 9‐year reviews
• Public, inclusive resource allocation with referrals, assessments and approvals
• Indigenous communities given vital role
• Community engagement, education
• Operational objectives, indicators, targets, monitoring, review, risk analysis
• Marine national parks network
• Approved by Parliament
• State and Commonwealth governments
• Cross‐sectoral and across jurisdictions
States and the Oceans Act
• Act does not remove existing management agencies or state title to coastal waters
• States engaged in regional marine planning in regional committees
• Oversight through NRMMC • Accreditation for assessment and approvals
• Collaborative & consistent arrangements driven by Agreement to deal with national threats to their waters
• Nominate members to Oceans Authority Board
The way forward for the Oceans Act
• ACF has consulted with stakeholders to gain their views on Oceans Act
• Review of the proposal about to begin as part of developing a blueprint for Australia’s oceans and to influence federal party platforms as they develop during 2009 for 2010 election
• Bring together previous ACF work as well as scientific principles, national priorities for protection, a case study on SW Marine Region as marine planning model