Thursday 7 November 2019 — Adelaide

The South-west Marine Parks Advisory Committee has been established to advise the Director of National Parks on implementation of the South-west Marine Parks Network Management Plan.

SWMPAC Meeting Two was held in Adelaide on Thursday 7 November 2019.

Kuarna Elder Mr Frank wangutya Wanganeen opened the meeting, welcoming the Committee to Kuarna country.

Key agenda items for the meeting included our:

South-west Network Implementation Plan and progress report
Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting and Improvement (MERI) system for Australian Marine Parks
National Communications and Marketing Strategy.

Member attendance:

Bianca Priest (Chair), Kirsty Alexander, Clare Cane, David Collard, Bronwyn Gillanders, Lee Johnson, Tim Langlois, Peter Owen, Gail Reynolds-Adamson, Terry Romaro OAM, Sophie Teede, Stephen van Leeuwen, Melissa Nursey-Bray (apology), Michael Heslewood (apology), John Webber (apology).

Observers:

Invited observers included representatives from the Western Australian Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) and Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) and the South Australian Department for Environment and Water (DEW) and Primary Industries and Regions South Australia (PIRSA).

South-west Network Implementation Plan and Progress Report

An update was provided on key activities implemented since July 2018:

Authorisations

19 authorisations have been issued across commercial tourism (4), non-commercial research (11), commercial media (2) and structures and works (2) activities.

Compliance

There have been 16 incidents.

Our compliance team have established a hotline for reporting illegal activity: 1800 852 975 or marine.compliance@dcceew.gov.au

Science

We have commissioned research, including:

Australian sea lion surveys at Nuyts Reef and Kangaroo Island in partnership with South Australian Department for Environment and Water (DEW).
Habitat mapping and fish assemblage surveys using Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUV) in Western Eyre Marine Park in partnership with DEW.
NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub projects including: Eco-narratives for Perth Canyon and Geographe Marine Parks and monitoring population dynamics of the SW population of southern right whales.

We now have a quarterly science newsletter (including terrestrial parks science) that can be subscribed to here.

Indigenous engagement

In April 2019, we convened a forum of Noongar representatives to identify opportunities for Aboriginal engagement in sea country management.

We’re working with the Esperance Tjaltjraak Native Title Aboriginal Corporation to develop projects for celebrating and protecting sea country values around the Eastern Recherche and South-west Corner Marine Parks.

We’re also supporting an Aboriginal participatory mapping project to spatially map Aboriginal ecological knowledge in Geographe Marine Park and an area of the South-west Corner Marine Park.

Parks Protection and Management

We’re working with the WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions to install marker buoys around the National Park Zone in Geographe Marine Park adjacent to a Ngari Capes Marine Park Sanctuary Zone.

Communications, Education and Awareness

We gave a presentation at the Australian Marine Sciences Association (AMSA) 2019 Conference in Freemantle and hosted an information booth which provided opportunities to discuss marine parks with the scientific community.

We participated in public information sessions on the governments’ roles in regulating offshore oil and gas activities off the South Australian coast, including public sessions in Adelaide, Port Lincoln, Victor Harbor and Kangaroo Island in August 2018.

In partnership with DEW, we installed joint interpretive signage at Seal Bay and Cape du Couedic (Kangaroo Island) about SA and Australian Marine Parks. In partnership with WA DBCA, we have undertaken joint compliance and installed interpretation signage around the Capes region at popular boat ramps and visitor sites about Geographe and South-west Corner National Park zoning adjacent to Ngari Capes Marine Park zoning.

We produced a brochure detailing both WA and Australian Marine Parks around the Capes region. The brochure was distributed at the public science talks by Dr Timothy Langlois and Prof Gary Kendrick held in early October in Busselton, Dunsborough and Margaret River.

Tourism and Visitor Experience

We’re developing a Tourism and Visitor Experience Strategy.

A Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting and Improvement (MERI) system for Australian Marine Parks

We are developing a Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting and Improvement (MERI) system for Australian Marine Parks to monitor the health of parks and evaluate the effectiveness of management.

Two key components of the MERI system will be 1) a national framework that explains the overall approach, and 2) Network monitoring plans that include outcomes and measurable indicators.

MERI will inform annual reports and national State of the Environment reporting.

Committee advice will be sought at several stages in the process of designing MERI, including: preliminary information of values, pressures and use; inventory and monitoring priorities; and evaluation and reporting processes and templates.