Globally significant Australian oceans almost the size of NSW will receive better protection through draft management plans released today.

Christmas Island Marine Park and Cocos (Keeling) Islands Marine Parks protect 744,070 km2 of unique marine environments containing vibrant coral reefs sustaining threatened and migratory species, and over 680 fish species, including varieties found nowhere else on earth.

The draft management plans were prepared in close consultation with local community advisory committees, recognising the strong connections island communities have to these waters.

This consultation gives Australians the opportunity to have their say on draft management plans that have been informed by public comments, and science, research and monitoring projects funded under a $3 million Australian Government Indian Ocean Territories (IOT) marine park grant program.

The draft management plans have a strong focus on:

• Protecting, researching and monitoring park habitats and climate change adaptation.
• Community stewardship, by supporting the traditional practices of Malay and Chinese communities and forming of local committees to guide implementation of the plans.
• Implementing the zoning that was co-designed with local communities during the process to create the parks, with large offshore green zones, where fishing isn’t allowed, and inshore yellow zones, that enables small scale fishing.
• Management that helps protect park values while simplifying administrative processes for local communities and other park users.

To Have Your Say on the draft management plans for Christmas Island Marine Park and Cocos (Keeling) Islands Marine Parks, visit https://consult.dcceew.gov.au/ by 11.30 pm (Eastern Standard Time) 19 September.

To view the draft management plans, visit Indian Ocean Territories Marine Parks.

To complement the release of draft marine park plans and the existing $3 million grant program, the Government has announced an additional $856,000 to help remove marine debris from Cocos (Keeling) Islands Marine Park, protect and monitor iconic whale sharks in Christmas Island Marine Park and support seabird conservation efforts on Christmas Island through Island Care, the local volunteer conservation group.