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Please note that this Issue Report focuses primarily on the conservation issues of marine and estuarine reservation. Coastal onshore reservation is not covered in detail here. While there are substantial issues associated with the management of the coastal foreshore, over 80% of the coastal foreshore is reserved. Marine and estuarine reservation is an issue because of the extremely low level of protection of the biodiversity of these environments. Aside from Macquarie Island, only 0.06%, or less than one thousandth, of the Tasmanian State Coastal Waters are protected by marine reserves and three of the four reserves are very small, making them much less effective at providing sanctuary. The lack of protection reduces the chances of maintaining existing biodiversity. For example, evidence is emerging of a massive loss of biodiversity in Tasmanian estuaries over the past 120 years, which, until now, has gone unnoticed. There are still no marine reserves in any of the estuaries. Any loss of biodiversity is particularly critical in Tasmania because the temperate waters are host to both a large number of species and to many unique species that live nowhere else. In spite of the small areas reserved and the relatively short time since declaration - 12 years - the existing reserves are already making significant contributions to our understanding of the marine environment. Scientists studying the reserves have found important shifts in the natural environment after fishing pressures were removed. The increase in understanding of how ecosystems work is one of the key benefits of marine reserves and much more knowledge like this is needed to sustainably manage Tasmania's marine resources. For example, reserves can become 'benchmarks' against which to measure the effects of human activity on the rest of the marine environment. While marine reservation is an important strategy for effective biodiversity conservation, it is recognised nationally and internationally that marine reservation, on its own, is not sufficient to maintain biodiversity - it must be complemented with ecologically sustainable management in the areas outside the reserves. Types and location of Tasmanian marine reserves Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), or marine reserves, can offer a range of protection to the marine environment - from multiple use reserves where resource exploitation is managed but allowed, to highly protected 'no take' reserves. In Tasmania, the approach to date has been to declare mostly small, but relatively highly protected MPAs. Macquarie Island is an IUCN category 1a reserve, while Maria Island marine reserve is category II. The 3 smallest reserves are in category IV. IUCN protected area management categories IUCN
Definition Ia Strict nature reserve: protected area managed mainly for science. Ib Wilderness area: protected area managed mainly for wilderness protection. II National Park: protected area managed mainly for ecosystem protection and recreation. III Natural Monument: protected area managed mainly for conservation of specific natural features. IV Habitat/species management area: protected area managed mainly for conservation through management intervention. V Protected landscape/seascape: protected area managed mainly for landscape/seascape conservation and recreation. VI Managed resource protected area: protected area managed mainly for the sustainable use of natural ecosystems. Source: http://www.wcmc.org.uk /protected_areas/data/sample/iucn_cat.htm. Revision date: 15 August 2000 | Current date: 19 September 2001. The Interim Marine and Coastal Regionalisation of Australia (IMCRA) is the geographical basis for selection of reserves. The IMCRA groups the coast into areas with similar biological and environmental conditions at a regional scale typically covering 100's of kilometres. The system is called 'interim' because it is recognised that the information base used to create the bioregions will grow through time and new ways of grouping the coastal, estuarine and marine areas will make more sense. Tasmania currently has nine bioregions, with marine reserves in three of them and proposed reserves in a further two.
Conservation significance of estuaries Estuaries do not seem to fall easily into the IMCRA bioregions and the estuary types presented by Edgar et al. 1999 provides a better basis for determining conservation priorities. This comprehensive study gathered information about the estuaries including catchment extent, catchment geology, rainfall, size of the estuary, seaward barrier characteristics, tidal regime, salinity levels and biological data. The estuaries are classified into nine groups, or types. The full report is available from TAFI. The conservation significance of each Tasmanian estuary is assessed using the nine groups of estuaries identified by physical criteria. Within each of the nine groups, estuaries are ranked by level of anthropogenic disturbance using human population density data, and the estuary with the least disturbance is assigned the highest conservation rank (Class A). Descriptions of the five classes of conservation significance are contained in the table. Class A estuaries are the least disturbed estuary of a particular type, and, between them, span nearly all of the biological and habitat diversity found within estuaries in the state. The 10 class A estuaries are North East Inlet, Black River estuary, Bryans Lagoon, New River Lagoon, Thirsty Lagoon, Tamar River estuary, Southport Lagoon, Bathurst Harbour, Payne Bay and Wanderer River estuary. The Tamar may seem a surprise inclusion in the Class A list given the extent of human impacts on the estuary but, it is literally 'in a class of its own'. Using Edgar et. al.'s (1999) typology, the Tamar is unique as it is the only meso-tidal drowned river valley (ria) in the State. Ecological aspects of Tasmania's coastal, estuarine and marine environments The ecology of Tasmania's coastal, estuarine and marine areas is complex, with species and communities in a state of constant flux. The ecosystems are some of the most diverse on earth and many of their member species are not found anywhere else. The vast majority are only found in the temperate waters of southern Australia and for some species, such as giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera), Tasmania is the Australian stronghold. Tasmania has a remarkably long coastline for its size because of its many islands and highly indented coastline. The resultant wide range of levels of exposure to marine conditions gives rise to a richness in ecological niches - from sheltered lagoons to wild, open coastlines. The mixing of the warm tropical water coming down the eastern Australian coast with the cool, nutrient rich waters of the Southern Ocean adds further variety. The land also profoundly influences what happens in the marine waters, especially the estuaries. For example, most of the sandy beaches are built from the sediments washed down the rivers through time, while the nutrients delivered by the rivers supply food to the marine plants and animals in the estuaries and beyond. It is important to appreciate that, in comparison to many habitats on land, coastal and marine habitats often cover very small areas. The factors governing the ecology of the coastal, estuarine and marine environments - such as nutrients, light levels, salinity, wind and wave exposure and bottom type - have created 'bands' of different living systems along the coast. The strong linear zonation of coastal environments means that many species are restricted to long narrow bands that are both highly vulnerable to local impacts and can give an inflated impression of the overall extent of some species. For example, seagrasses and giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) typically only occur in waters between 1 and 20 metres deep. Inadequate implementation of the Marine Protected Areas Strategy will increase the likelihood of loss of habitat and biodiversity. The Marine Protected Areas Strategy alone cannot secure Tasmania's biodiversity as it is also dependent on ecologically sustainable management of all the coastal, estuarine and marine environments. Economic and social disruptions result from a lack of knowledge about ecosystems - for example, the collapse of the oyster and scallop dredging industries in nearshore waters. MPAs are proving useful in the growth of such knowledge. New economic benefits can flow from the establishment of marine reserves including: tourism developments; direct employment of management staff; servicing of infrastructure; environmental education opportunities; opportunities flowing from increases in expertise in ecologically sustainable management; and a form of insurance for ecosystem collapse. One way of viewing ecosystems is to look at the services they provide. The following are some of the ecosystem services provided by coastal, estuarine and marine environments, including the onshore coastal environments such as wetlands, floodplains and saltmarshes (Costanza et al. 1997): Evidence is emerging that ecosystem services produce greater economic benefits than those produced by continuing to modify habitats (Balmford et al. 2002). On a global scale, the benefit to cost ratio of conserving the remaining wild nature when these services are taken into account is at least 100:1. There have been attempts at specific valuations of the services provided by ecosystems to the economy. For example, Robert Costanza et. al. (1997) estimated the economic value of 17 ecosystem services for 16 biomes, or habitats. The values indicate that natural coastal environments, particularly those in estuaries, are easily among the most valuable on earth. Value of ecosystem services 1994 US$ per hectare per year Biome (habitat) Value (1994 US$) Open ocean 252 Estuaries 22,832 Seagrass/algae beds 19,002 Continental shelf 1,610 Temperate forests 302 Grass/rangelands 232 Tidal marshes/mangroves 9,990 Swamps and floodplains 19,580 Lakes and rivers 8,498 Cropland 92 Source: Costanza & Folke 1997 All areas of the State are underrepresented in the current marine reserve system apart from Macquarie Island, which is totally protected with the highest level of protection. The six bioregions which have no marine reserves are: Otway, Central Bass Strait, Twofold, Flinders, Davey and Franklin covering the entire south, west and north coasts, and Bass Strait. Even within the two bioregions covering the east and south-east coasts-Freycinet and Bruny-there are many types of habitat that are not adequately represented in reserves. For example, there are no marine reserves in any of the estuaries of Tasmania, yet these areas are the most heavily impacted by human activity. Assessing and measuring the current situation There is no direct monitoring of Tasmania's coastal, estuarine and marine biodiversity or ecology. Because of this, the assessment of conservation priorities is more difficult but even more important. It is made more difficult because the identification of reserves that efficiently protect biodiversity and ecological processes but minimise restrictions on sustainable use of marine resources is harder. It is even more important because, in the absence of enough information, the risks associated with human activities are elevated. From the point of view of MPA identification and selection, each Bioregion will require assessments. From the perspective of both MPA and natural resource management, each Bioregion will require monitoring of key biological and ecological components and processes. Some monitoring activities do take place in coastal, estuarine and marine environments (see Ecological Condition of Coastal, Estuarine and Marine Habitats and Water Quality in Tasmanian Estuaries Issue Reports) though primarily for water and sediment quality. Other assessments related to ecological condition and conservation assessment are as follows: |
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Threatened Animal Species - Coastal, Estuarine and Marine - at a glance
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Extent and Condition of Estuarine Habitats - at a glance Indicator reliability comment: There is no systematic collection of data to support this indicator at present, and so we have no comparative data and little certainty about either condition or trends.
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Marine Protected Areas - at a glance
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Extent and Condition of Marine and Coastal Habitats - at a glance Indicator reliability comment: There is no systematic collection of data to support this indicator at present, and so we have no comparative data and little certainty about either condition or trends.
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Tasmania Together and the RMPS Relevant Tasmania Together goals and standards for 'Coastal, Estuarine and Marine' are listed in the linked file. The Tasmania Together Progress Board reported on progress toward targets for benchmarks set (Tasmania Together Progress Board 2003). Indicators, targets and baseline data are available in the latest Progress Report June 2003. Further information, including progress report updates, is available from Tasmania Together. Involvement of the community, and the fair and orderly use of resources are also fundamental principles of the RMPS. The RMPS objectives have been developed to advance the principles of sustainable development.
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