This report is designed to provide cultural guidance for the understanding and management of the Australian Marine Parks on Wadandi Watturu Boodja - Saltwater Country Land and Sea. It is designed to inform managers, researchers and the general public.

Partnership with Wadandi Traditional Owners and Custodians for this region provided guidance through cultural maps and knowledge to inform the discovery of remarkable biodiversity across submerged ancient coastline features, that document the dynamic history of the region. A short film will complement this report and document how cultural information has guide researchers to understand the marine biodiversity of the region.

The cultural knowledge provided through partnership with Wadandi Traditional Owners and Custodians not only guided the discovery of remarkable biodiversity across submerged ancient coastline features but provided future guidance for managing the cultural and natural values of the marine parks that will be documented in future research through the National Environmental Science Programs Marine and Coastal Hub.

We present a national social and economic benchmark for the Australian Marine Parks (AMPs), focussing on four key groups: the general public, recreational fishers, non-extractive recreational users, and charter operators. Establishing this benchmark involved conducting four integrated surveys nationally reaching approximately 4,000 respondents. The AMP benchmarks established here are amongst the most comprehensive globally in terms of the spatial extent and stakeholder groups considered. Overall, the surveys highlight the substantial values associated with the AMPs, and generally positive perceptions and attitudes towards the parks. The surveys also highlight potential areas for survey improvement, and data was collected to help address these (e.g. preferred modes of contact). The information is intended to inform management of the AMPs in ways that align with the preferences of stakeholders and the broader community. 

This online article is a summary of one in a series of eco-narrative documents that synthesise our existing knowledge of Australian Marine Parks. Eco-narratives are intended to enable managers and researchers to ascertain the ecological characteristics of each park, and highlight knowledge gaps for future research focus. The information in this eco-narrative forms an initial characterisation of the physical, oceanographic and biological character of Arafura Marine Park, with a focus on results from a biodiversity and mapping survey undertaken by the NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub in 2020. This survey targeted two areas in the marine park: Money Shoal as an example of shallow coral reef habitat, and Pillar Bank as an example of a deeper water mixed seabed environments. This article focuses on survey results from Money Shoal.

Link to article: www.northwestatlas.org/nwa/money-shoal

This flythrough combines bathymetry with high-resolution imagery to highlight canyon environments within the Gascoyne Marine Park located offshore northwestern Australia. The Cape Range Canyon is a relatively narrow, linear canyon that initiates on the continental slope, but is connected to the shelf via a narrow channel. The walls of the canyon are steep and reveal a history of slumping and retrogressive failure, that have broadened the canyon over time. The floor contains a series of deep plunge pools, indicative of the action of sediment-laden turbidity currents in further eroding this canyon. Epibenthos within the canyons was relatively sparse and likely regulated by disturbance associated with sedimentation in the canyons. Rock overhangs often supported the highest densities of benthic suspension feeders, including glass sponges, octocorals and ascidians.

Link to video:    Seafloor Bathymetry of the Gascoyne Marine Park

In early 2020, a team aboard the RV Falkor explored two deep-sea canyons within the Gascoyne Marine Park. More than 30 new species were discovered, 2570 seafloor images were annotated, and 11,250 km2 were mapped. This survey confirmed that canyons within Gascoyne Marine Park are ecologically important systems, supporting numerous deep-sea species, many of which were discovered to be new to science. The advanced capabilities of the ROV SuBastian to navigate and image complex (near vertical) walls and overhangs within the canyons revealed patterns in the distribution of the seafloor taxa consistent with small-scale environmental variability. Repeat multibeam mapping revealed a dynamic canyon system that continues to be shaped by turbidity currents. The occurrence of reworked seagrass blades within the canyons provided a new understanding of these canyon systems as an active conduit between shallow shelf and abyssal environments. The distribution of the seabed biota revealed through quantitative ROV transects emphasised the importance of disturbance patterns in shaping the canyon ecosystems.

In October 2019, opportunistic mapping and imagery of the Wessel Marine Park on the RV Investigator revealed a localised band of high biodiversity linked to a unique and culturally important geomorphological feature in the otherwise uniform seascape prevalent in the Wessel Marine Park. Our findings help contribute to an understanding of the values of a northern marine park, including an inventory of communities and habitats as well as potential relationships to geomorphic features and culturally important sites. This has national significance to the implementation of the northern marine park management plan, as well as informing future monitoring programs in northern Australia.

In this report, we develop a set of recommended measures to monitor the social and economic dimensions of the Australian Marine Parks. Our recommendations are based on a review of approaches used nationally and internationally, and a series of regional workshops with marine park managers and experts from around Australia. The report provides a long-overdue synthesis of approaches used to monitor the social and economic dimensions of marine parks in Australia and should be useful both for informing monitoring of the Australian Marine Parks as well as state-managed marine parks.