Department of the Environment and Water Resources, February 2007.

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• The way ahead for Australia’s eastern oceans (PDF - 1,766 KB)

About the brochure

The East Marine Bioregional Plan will deliver certainty for industry, protection for this remarkable marine environment and conservation of its biodiversity.

The East Marine Region includes more than 2.4 million square kilometres of ocean from the northern reaches of the Coral Sea, south into the Tasman Sea.

The Region also includes waters around Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island but not the area around the Great Barrier Reef - planning will not involve issues relating to the zoning or management of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park which are dealt with under separate legislation.

What are Marine Bioregional Plans?

Australia is leading the world in developing plans for effective environmental management of our vast ocean territory.

Through the marine bioregional planning program, the Australian Government will:

• Prepare Marine Bioregional Plans for Commonwealth waters under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act).
• Establish networks of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) as the Commonwealth contribution to the National Representative System of MPA.

Marine Bioregional Plans are being developed across five marine regions, the:

• South-west
• North
• North-west
• East
• South-east.

The South-east Regional Marine Plan was completed in 2004 and will provide the basis for a Marine Bioregional Plan to be developed under the EPBC Act.

While we know little about our oceans compared to the terrestrial environment, Marine Bioregional Plans will consolidate available knowledge to provide us with the best possible basis for decision-making about the conservation of the marine environment.