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Background information
(Much of the following material comes from the Wikipedia entry 'Protected areas of Australia. The full text can be accessed at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_areas_of_Australia)
Protected areas of Australia
Protected areas of Australia include Commonwealth and off-shore protected areas managed by the Australian government, as well as protected areas within each of the six states of Australia and the two self-governing territories (Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory), which are managed by the eight state and territory governments.
Commonwealth and off-shore protected areas in the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, the Christmas Island Territory, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Territory, the Norfolk Island Territory and the Australian Antarctic Territory are managed by Parks Australia, a division of the Department of the Environment and Water Resources, with the exception of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which is managed by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, a separate body within the department.
Protected areas cover 895,288 kmę of Australia's land area, or about 11.5% of the total land area. The Australian Capital Territory has the highest level of protection at nearly 55% of its territory, followed by Tasmania with nearly 40% and South Australia with 25%. Lowest level of protection is in Queensland and the Northern Territory with less than 6%. Of all protected areas, two-thirds are considered strictly protected (IUCN categories I to IV), and the rest is mostly managed resources protected area (IUCN category VI). Over 80% of the protected area in Australia is publicly owned and managed by the Australian government or state and territory governments. The second largest component of protected areas are the Indigenous Protected Areas while only 0.3% are privately owned.
Marine Reserves or Parks
The Australian Government manages an estate of marine protected areas (MPA) that are Commonwealth reserves under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).
Marine Parks
Great Australian Bight
Great Barrier Reef
Lord Howe Island
Ningaloo
Rowley Shoals
Shark Bay
Solitary Islands
Australian Whale Sanctuary
Marine National Nature Reserves
Ashmore Reef
Cod Grounds Commonwealth Marine Reserve
Coringa-Herald (Coral Sea and Island territory)
Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs (Coral Sea and Island territory)
Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve
Lihou Reef (Coral Sea and Island territory)
Mermaid Reef
South-east Commonwealth Marine Reserve Network
Marine Reserves
Cartier Island
Tasmanian Seamounts
Australia's new marine reserves
1. The Coral Sea Region
Covers an area of more than half the size of Queensland; supports critical nesting sites for the green turtle and is renowned for its diversity of big predatory fish and sharks. Includes protection for all reefs in the Coral Sea with the final proposal adding iconic reefs such as Osprey Reef, Marion Reef, Bougainville Reef, Vema Reef and Shark Reef included as marine national parks.
2. The South West Marine Region
Extends from the eastern end of Kangaroo Island in South Australia to Shark Bay in Western Australia. Area of global significance as a breeding and feeding ground for a number of protected marine species such as southern right whales, blue whales and the Australian Sea Lion. Includes the Perth Canyon - an underwater area bigger than the Grand Canyon and the Diamantina Fracture Zone - a large underwater mountain chain which includes Australia's deepest water.
3. The Temperate East Marine Region
Runs from the southern boundary of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park to Bermagui in southern NSW, and includes the waters surrounding Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands. Home to the critically-endangered east coast population of grey nurse shark, the vulnerable white shark. Contains important offshore reef habitat at Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs and Lord Howe Island that support the threatened black cod.
4. The North Marine Region
Commonwealth waters of the Gulf of Carpentaria, Arafura Sea and the Timor Sea extending as far west as the Northern Territory-Western Australian border. Protects globally-important nesting and resting areas for threatened marine turtle species including flatback, hawksbill, green and olive ridley turtles will be protected. Also important foraging areas for breeding colonies of migratory seabirds and large aggregations of dugongs.
5. The North West Marine Region
Stretches from the WA-Northern Territory border through to Kalbarri, south of Shark Bay. Home to the whale shark which is the world's largest fish and provides protection to the world's largest population of humpback whales that migrate annually from Antarctica to give birth in the water off the Kimberley.