Since CBD COP 2, where it was agreed that an ecosystem approach should be the primary framework for action under the Convention, Australia’s domestic application of ecosystem approaches has accelerated and is based on the integrative and adaptive management approach adopted by the Convention. Australia bases domestic application of ecosystem approaches to natural resource management on the precautionary approach, as agreed as Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration of 1992 (and endorsed at WSSD).
Land management
Ecosystem approaches are widely implemented domestically, and underpin Australia’s major piece of environmental legislation – the EPBC Act. For example, ecosystem approaches are used as the foundation for existing natural resource management (NRM) programs (Natural Heritage Trust and National Action Plan on Salinity and Water Quality), wetland management for the promotion of the wise use of wetlands and native forest management. (The Regional Forest Agreement system is a case study of the ecosystem approach http://www.biodiv.org/doc/case-studies/for/cs-ecofor-au-management.pdf. These support conservation incentive measures and programs for biodiversity conservation in production landscapes, fisheries management arrangements (e.g. regional marine planning, national oceans policy and strategic assessments under the EPBC Act and the Fisheries Management Act 1991).
Coastal and Marine
Applying the ecosystem approach to oceans management involves the consideration of human activities in the context of ecosystem boundaries, rather than boundaries based on governance or tenure. It also recognises that there are ecological links between the land and the oceans, as well as within and between ocean ecosystems. Ecosystem approaches underpin Australia’s Oceans Policy and Regional Marine Planning process. Guidelines for applying an ecosystem approach in the oceans have been developed. Australia is also pursuing a range of measures that are based on ecosystem approaches for the management and conservation of high seas outside national jurisdiction. (See also under Article 10 Question 70).
An ecosystem approach was fundamental for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Representative Areas Program (RAP), the identification of new Marine Protected Areas and to the effective management of existing reserves. An ecosystem approach is also integral to the performance assessment frameworks used in Australia.
The ecosystem-approach has also been applied in other sensitive marine environments, such as Heard and McDonald Island Marine Park in the sub-Antarctic, and in the Tasmanian Seamount Reserve area.
Internationally, Australia has promoted ecosystem approaches in the area covered by the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), for instance by developing and implementing conservation measures that limit harvest of finfish to provide for predators and sustainable catches, and to reduce the level of by-catch in commercial fisheries.
A major challenge in managing human activities in the oceans is how little is currently known, and likely to be known, about oceans ecosystems and the impacts of human activities in the ocean. Adopting an ecosystem approach in management aims to ensure that, during decision-making, a balance between the following is explicitly considered and chosen:
the precautionary approach to management and use;
level of uncertainty about the natural and human systems;
risk of adverse impacts to those systems;
potential benefits to those systems; and
the investment in acquiring information to reduce the uncertainty.
Integral to an ecosystem approach is adaptive management. This ensures that management actions are modified, based on feedback about their effectiveness as we learn more about the marine environments and ecosystems, and come to better understand our interactions with them.
Regional marine planning: how the Australian Government is taking an ecosystem approach
The regional marine plans (RMPs) that are being developed for Australia’s marine jurisdiction establish broad direction and management arrangements for Australia’s ocean territory.
An ecosystem approach underpins regional marine planning as RMPs are based on large marine ecosystem boundaries (LMEs), rather than jurisdiction or management boundaries. Consistent with the principles of an ecosystem approach, the RMPs also seek to integrate the use, management and conservation of marine resources at the broad ecosystem level. Regional marine plans are also designed to adapt and change according to new information about marine ecosystems and an improved understanding of how to manage and conserve our ocean resources.
Regional marine plans use the National Marine Bioregionalisation as a hierarchical spatial framework to define marine ecosystems based on areas that are broadly similar in physical and biological structure. Bioregions vary in size from large provincial structures that capture broad patterns in biogeography of plants and animals, to finer scale areas within provinces that map distinct habitats. The reason for taking a ‘nested’ bioregional approach is that management applications vary in scale; for example, a national representative system of marine protected areas would need to identify areas at a level which captures national patterns in biodiversity, while management of particular uses in the marine environment needs to consider impacts on smaller scale habitats.
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park – Reprentative Areas Program
The new Zoning Plan for the entire Great Barrier Reef Marine Park came into effect on 1 July 2004. The proportion of the Marine Park protected by highly protected ‘no-take’ zones was increased from less than 5% to more than 33%, and now protects representative examples of each of the 70 broad habitat types identified in the Great Barrier Reef. Key achievements against this objective include:
Protection of over 115,000 km2 of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park within the world’s largest network of marine ‘no-take’ areas.
Creation of a network of highly protected areas that is representative of all 70 bioregions (habitats) within the Marine Park.
Most comprehensive process of community involvement and participatory planning for any environmental issue in Australia’s history, including over 31,000 public submissions.
Development of a visionary new Zoning Plan for the Marine Park providing a framework for the conservation and sustainable use of the resources of the Marine Park, now and into the future.
The approach taken in the GBR was recognised at the World Conservation Congress in Bangkok from the 17-25 November 2004, as one of the most comprehensive, innovative and exciting global advances in the systematic protection of marine biodiversity and marine conservation in recent decades.
|
