The NSW Shooters Party has introduced a Bill to place a five-year moratorium on the creation of new marine parks and new sanctuary areas within existing marine parks.

This proposal displays a clear disregard for the scientific evidence of more than 300 international papers that marine parks, particularly no-take or sanctuary zones, are a vital tool for marine conservation.

Debate on the Bill has been delayed until 31 August. We must act now to ensure our marine plants and animals have safe havens, and that our threatened and overfished species have a chance to recover.

Please visit our www.marineaction.org.au website and send key politicians an email showing you strongly disagree with the five-year moratorium on new marine parks and sanctuaries in NSW.

We need your commitment to save our marine parks and sanctuaries

• The push for a moratorium on Marine Parks displays a clear disregard for the marine environment and betrays a lack of understanding of the threats this environment faces.

• The scientific basis for establishing a comprehensive network of Marine Parks is extremely solid and supported by the overwhelming majority of marine scientists both in Australia and throughout the world.
  
  - In 2009, a scientific overview of 140 studies on 124 marine sanctuaries across 29 countries showed sanctuaries lead to significant increases in biomass, density, species richness and organism size. Importantly for NSW, it showed that sanctuaries in temperate environments were as effective, if not more so, than tropical reserves.
  
  - Earlier this year, more than 245 scientists from 35 countries confirmed their support for the creation of large-scale ocean marine parks as the best way to help fish stocks recover and preserve ecosystems.
  
  
• only 6.7% of NSW's marine waters are designated fully protected sanctuaries, both within and outside multiple-use marine parks. This is still far below the minimum long-term target of 20% as set by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) (Marine Sanctuaries Vth World Parks Congress, Durban, September 2003).
  
  
• Marine parks offering diverse tourism opportunities, and NSW’s Marine parks are broadly supported by their local communities, including recreational fishers.
  
  
• The vocal opposition is in the minority and seeks to create a climate of fear and mistrust by using emotive and misleading language, referring regularly to Marine Park “Lockout”. This rhetoric, which the Coalition appears to have adopted, is deliberately misleading as Marine parks are designed as multi-use, where most areas are still accessible to recreational fishers.

Help spread the word

Download a sheet of DL flyers here.

Recent media coverage

Joint media release from an unprecendented 38 environment organisations condemning the Bill

AAP Newswire: Drop marine park bill: conservationists

Sydney Morning Herald online (14/07)

Daily Telegraph online   (14/07)

The Australian online ( 14/07)
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/conservation-groups-call-for-proposed-marine-park-moratorium-to-be-dropped/story-e6frg6o6-1225891620583

news.com.au (14/07)

Nine news online (14/07)

Yahoo7! (14/07)

The Age (14/07)

Herald Sun (14/07)

Brisbane Times ( 14/07)

Adelaide Now (14/07)

Perth Now (14/07)

ABC Online (15/07)

Clarence Valley News (19/07)

Read the Nature Conservation Council's media release

Conservation groups concerned about 5 year marine park moratorium, ABC Radio PM program