Cover image © Stefan Andrews
Western Australia, November 5, 2024 – After over 30 years of advocacy and three years of consultation, the South Coast Marine Park is now a reality. Spanning 1,000 kilometers of Western Australia’s southern coastline, the new marine park encompasses two Mission Blue Hope Spots.
Australia’s Great Southern Reef, a vast network of interconnected marine ecosystems, is home to thousands of unique marine species, including marine mammals, sharks, kelp forests and many invertebrates. This is the first sanctuary protection for the ecologically rich environment of the southern coastline of Western Australia.
The new protected area includes four interconnected marine parks—Mamang Maambakoort, Wudjari, Western Bight, and Mirning—jointly managed with Traditional Owners. This co-management model ensures conservation efforts respect both traditional knowledge and modern science, and honor the deep cultural environmental ties of Indigenous communities to these waters.…