Macquarie Island Marine Park

Macquarie Island Marine Park
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Map showing the Macquarie Island Marine Park. The shaded area is a Sanctuary Zone ('no take' zone).[1]
Location	Australia
Coordinates	56.187°S 161.640°E / -56.187; 161.640[2]
Area	475,465 km^2 (183,578 sq mi)
Established	20 October 1999
Operator	Parks Australia
Website	https://parksaustralia.gov.au/marine/parks/south-east

The Macquarie Island Marine Park (previously known as the Macquarie Island Commonwealth Marine Reserve) is an Australian marine park surrounding Macquarie Island in the southwest Pacific. The marine park covers an area of 475,465 km² (183,578 sq mi) and is assigned IUCN category IV. It is the largest of the 14 parks managed under the South-east Marine Parks Network.^[3]

Conservation values

• Examples of ecosystems, habitats and communities associated with the Macquarie Province and associated with the sea-floor features: abyssal plain/deep ocean floor, canyon, escarpment, knoll/abyssal hill, ridge, slope and trench/trough
• Important foraging area for: killer whale, southern elephant seal, Antarctic, Subantarctic and New Zealand fur seals, royal, king, rockhopper and gentoo penguin and wandering albatross.^[4]

History

The Marine Park was originally proclaimed on 20 October 1999 as the Macquarie Island Marine Park. The name of the reserve was later changed on 28 June 2007 to the Macquarie Island Commonwealth Marine Reserve.^[3] The name was changed again in 2017 back to Macquarie Island Marine Park.^[5]

In early 2023, the federal government announced that the park would triple in size, adding an extra 385,000 km² (149,000 sq mi) of protected water to the existing 162,000 km² (63,000 sq mi) of marine park.^[6] This expansion came into effect on 1 July 2023.^[7]

Summary of protection zones

The Macquarie Island Marine Park has been assigned IUCN protected area category IV. However, within the marine park there are three protection zones, each zone has an IUCN category and related rules for managing activities to ensure the protection of marine habitats and species.^[3]

The following table is a summary of the zoning rules within the Macquarie Island Marine Park:^[3]

Zone	IUCN	Activities permitted					Total area (km^2)
		Vessel transiting	Recreational fishing	Commercial fishing	Commercial tourism	Mining
Sanctuary Zone	Ia	No	No	No	aviation only (>3000m)	No	57,056
National Park Zone	II	Yes	No	No	authorisation required	No	385,127
Habitat Protection	IV	Yes	No	authorisation required	authorisation required	No	33,282
External links: Activity prescriptions for Macquarie Island Marine Park;Proposal to expand Macquarie Marine Park

See also

• Protected areas managed by the Australian government

References

1. Map data: Sanctuary IUCN Ia and National Park IUCN II zones ('no take' zones) from Australian Marine Parks, (2018) Australian Government Department of the Environment and Energy. CC BY 4.0. http://www.environment.gov.au/fed/catalog/search/resource/details.page?uuid=%7BCD8877F3-8C39-4A20-A53F-070FBEE5AF3C%7D
2. "Relation: Macquarie Island Marine Park (8444307)". OpenStreetMap. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
3. "South-east Marine Parks Network Management Plan 2013-23" (PDF). Parks Australia. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
4. "Macquarie Island Commonwealth Marine Reserve". environment.gov.au. © Commonwealth of Australia (CC BY 3.0 AU). Retrieved 15 August 2018.
5. "Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Commonwealth Marine Reserves Renaming) Proclamation 2017". legislation.gov.au. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
6. MacDonald, Lucy (5 June 2023). "Macquarie Island marine park set to almost triple in size". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
7. "Macquarie Island Marine Park". parksaustralia.gov.au. Retrieved 8 March 2024.

^[1]

External links

• South-east Marine Parks Network - Parks Australia
• South-east Marine Commonwealth Marine Reserves Network - environment.gov.au (outdated)

1. "South-east Marine Parks Network". parksaustralia.gov.au. Retrieved 8 March 2024.