Global marine science luminaries slam marine parks plan
The campaign against proposed changes to Australia’s marine park network is gathering weight, with marine science heavyweights from around the world backing a statement of concern about draft management plans.
The Government is not planning to shrink park boundaries from those outlined in 2012, but it is planning zoning changes within the boundaries, claiming the same number of ‘conservation features’ would be protected.
But scientists say decades of scientific evidence refute that claim, and that marine protection in an area the size of Victoria is to be scaled back so that activity is only banned on the sea bed but not in the water above.
http://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/am/global-marine-science-luminaries-slam-marine-parks-plan/8955820
The Government is not planning to shrink park boundaries from those outlined in 2012, but it is planning zoning changes within the boundaries, claiming the same number of ‘conservation features’ would be protected.
But scientists say decades of scientific evidence refute that claim, and that marine protection in an area the size of Victoria is to be scaled back so that activity is only banned on the sea bed but not in the water above.
http://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/am/global-marine-science-luminaries-slam-marine-parks-plan/8955820