Marine park

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the Brooklyn neighborhood, see Marine Park.
See also Marine reserve as many areas called parks are wholly or partly marine conservation reserves

A marine park is a park consisting of an area of sea (or sometimes a lake) sometimes protected for recreational use, but more often set aside to preserve a specific habitat and ensure the ecosystem is sustained for the organisms that exist there. Most marine parks are designated by governments, and organized like watery national parks.

Some marine parks are quite large; the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park in Australia is the largest, at 350,000 km².

Although for many uses it is sufficient to designate the boundaries of the marine park and to inform commercial fishing boats and other maritime enterprises, some parks have gone to additional effort to make their wonders accessible to visitors. These can range from glass-bottomed boats, to small submarines, to windowed undersea tubes.

In New Zealand a marine reserve is an area which has a higher degree of legal protection than marine parks for conservation purposes.

In NSW, Australia, there are planned marine parks which will stretch along the coastline of the entire state.

Contents

[edit] Marine parks around the globe

[edit] High seas

As of April 2008 there are no high seas marine reserves, but Greenpeace is campaigning for the "doughnut holes" of the western pacific to be declared as marine reserves. [1] They are campaigning for 40 percent of the world’s oceans to be protected as Marine Reserves. [2]

[edit] Americas

[edit] Africa

[edit] Australia

[edit] Federal

The Australian Government manages an estate of marine protected areas (MPA) that are Commonwealth reserves under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).

  • Australian Whale Sanctuary
  • Shark Bay Marine Park
  • Ashmore Reef National Nature Reserve
  • Cartier Island Marine Reserve
  • Cod Grounds Commonwealth Marine Reserve
  • Coringa-Herald National Nature Reserve and
  • Lihou Reef National Nature Reserve (Coral Sea Island Territory)
  • Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs Marine National Nature Reserve
  • Great Australian Bight Marine Park (Commonwealth Waters)
  • Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
  • Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve
  • Lord Howe Island Marine Park (Commonwealth Waters)
  • Macquarie Island Marine Park
  • Mermaid Reef Marine National Nature Reserve
  • Ningaloo Marine Park (Commonwealth Waters)
  • Solitary Islands Marine Reserve (Commonwealth Waters)
  • South-east Commonwealth Marine Reserve Network

[edit] NSW

These are referred aquatic reserves declared under the Fisheries Management Act 1994

  • Cook Island (Tweed Heads)
  • Barrenjoey Head (Hawkesbury River)
  • Narrabeen Head
  • Long Reef
  • Cabbage Tree Bay (Manly)
  • North (Sydney) Harbour
  • Bronte-Coogee
  • Cape Banks (La Perouse)
  • Boat Harbour (Kurnell)
  • Towra Point (Botany Bay)
  • Shiprock (Port Hacking)
  • Bushrangers Bay (Shell Harbour)

[edit] Europe

[edit] New Zealand

  • Mimiwhangata Marine Park
  • Tawharanui Marine Park
  • Hauraki Gulf Marine Park
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