Australia creates world's largest marine reserve network
Australia creates world's largest marine reserve network
The Coral Sea and adjoining Great Barrier Reef will be protected from oil and gas exploration under the scheme
Associated Press in Canberra
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 13 June 2012 23.11 EDT
Australia has created the world's largest network of marine reserves and will restrict fishing and oil and gas exploration in a major step to safeguard the environment and access to food.
The area will cover 3.1m sq km (1.2m sq miles) of ocean including the entire Coral Sea, and encompass a third of the island continent's territorial waters.
The environment minister, Tony Burke, said the government expected to pay an estimated 100m Australian dollars to the fishing industry in compensation for the new restrictions on their operations that will take effect late this year.
Highly protected areas such as the Coral Sea off Australia's north-eastern coast and the adjoining World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef will also be protected from oil and gas exploration. Both areas, which cover a total 1.3m sq km, have shallow reefs that support tropical ecosystems with sharks, coral, sponges and many fish species.
More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/14/australia-largest-marine-reserve
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