Designing a targeted monitoring program to support evidence-based management of Australian Marine Parks
Final report, November 2022
This report details the development of a Monitoring, Effectiveness (ME) framework for the Australian Marine Park (AMP) estate which aims to help Parks Australia move from the scoping and planning stages of the adaptive management cycle to the do, evaluate, report and improve stages. The broader ME system consists of an overarching Framework, supporting the ME plan and network level Science Plans. This is applied to the networks of the South west, North west, North, Temperate east and Coral Sea Marine Park. The ME system is underpinned by a common language that provides nationally consistent definitions, for: a) natural, cultural, and heritage values; (b) social, cultural, and economic benefits; (c) Activities and anthropogenic pressures; and, (d) biophysical, and social and economic drivers. An expert-based vulnerability assessment was extended to all networks and updated with additional information based on responses from experts.
This report complements the work applied to the South-east network, and taken together represents a full national priority list for monitoring inside AMPs. This work also provides a nationally accepted common language to describe natural values and pressures and a robust approach to combining this information to inform national priorities. The ME framework described here represents a significant enabling-step towards an adaptive, integrated and place-based management regime.