The Australian Government has today announced $6 million in funding for projects to support Australians to get involved in managing, protecting and understanding our world-leading network of Australian Marine Parks.
Through the Our Marine Parks Grants Program, we are supporting marine park users and industries to deliver projects that will help build a greater understanding of Australian Marine Parks and connect more people to our incredible marine environment.
More than 15 organisations from across the country, including tourism operators, regional councils, Indigenous corporations, private businesses and universities, have received grants
to support projects including:
- programs to enable Traditional Owners in the far North, West and South West of Australia to have greater involvement in managing sea country
- tourism and educational opportunities and experiences to raise awareness of Australian Marine Parks and support marine park visitation. These include installations at Western Australia's Busselton Jetty, a multimedia tourism campaign for Norfolk Marine Park, digital story telling in regional South Australia, and mooring upgrades to support tourism operators in the Coral Sea Marine Park
- marine science and research, such as seafloor mapping and marine life and habitat surveys to improve our understanding of important species and habitats within our marine parks.
Australia is a world leader in marine park management. The 58 Australian Marine Parks around our coastline cover around 2.8 million square kilometres. Together with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and the Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve, these marine parks cover over one third of Australia's marine environment.
By developing strong partnerships with marine users and industries, we will have a greater understanding of these unique environments to help inform management of our incredible marine parks.
The funding announced today is in addition to the $5 million delivered through round one of the Our Marine Park Grants Program which supported projects that achieve long-term sustainable fishing and conservation outcomes.
The successful grant recipients include:
- Busselton Jetty
- Deakin University
- Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation
- Far West Coast Aboriginal Corporation
- iXblue Pty Ltd
- James Cook University
- Kimberley Land Council Aboriginal Corporation
- Macquarie University
- Norfolk Island Regional Council
- Northern Territory Seafood Council
- Pendoley Environmental
- Reef Life Survey Foundation
- Cod Hole & Ribbon Reef Operators Association
- University of Adelaide
- University of Western Australia
- Undalup Association
- University of Tasmania
Australian Marine Parks protect our offshore marine environment and are managed on behalf of the Australian Government by Parks Australia.
