Pilbara Marine Conservation Partnership (PMCP)
Managing the conservation values of coral reef ecosystems in the Pilbara/Ningaloo region
CSIRO Wealth from Oceans Flagship
and
The University of Western Australia
Presented by Shaun P. Collin
Team Leaders
• Shaun P. Collin• Gary Kendrick• Malcolm McCulloch• Euan Harvey• Anya Waite• Ryan Lowe• Jim Falter• Timothy Langlois• Carlos Duarte• Greg Ivey
• Russ Babcock• Ming Feng• Mat Vanderklift• Olly Berry• Damian Thompson• Dirk Slawninski• Roland Pitcher• Mick Haywood• Richard Pillans
UWA CSIRO
Dept. of Fisheries
• Steve NewmanDEC
• Kim Friedman
Background
• Project designed by CSIRO and UWA and carried out in partnership to address the need for conservation offsets in the Southern Pilbara / Northern Gascoyne Region of WA
• The initial five year program, established through the Gorgon Net Conservation Benefits offset scheme
• Project harnesses collective expertise of UWA and CSIRO on a large, long term scale to provide evidence-based decisions and integrated solutions
Aims
• Regional scale assessment of key ecological parameters
• Development of baselines, indicators and thresholds to instruct future management strategies
• Better understanding of the condition and threats to biodiversity in one of Australia’s most rapidly developing regions
• Integrated program to enhance net conservation benefits to globally significant coral reef systems
• Linking inshore archipelago to DEC Marine Park Estate within the 50m bathymetry line
• Filling a major information gap in region
Scope
Development
Conditionbenchmarks, impacts
Response(Partnerships with DEC, DoF, EPA)
Pressure
Natural and Anthropogenic Environmental Drivers
Habitats and biodiversity
Oceanographic connectivity
Climate change
Fishing pressure
Nutrient supply
Cyclones/flooding events
Regional Net Conservation Benefits
Themed Objectives
• Coral Reef Health
• Fish and Sharks
• Environmental Pressures and Connectivity
Ningaloo Fish Surveys
Coral Reef Health
Legend
Old Sanctuary
Conservation Area
Unclassified
Recreation
Sanctuary
General Use
Special Purpose (BP)
Special Purpose (SBA)
0 10 20 30 405Kilometres
ExmouthGulf
Muiron
Bundegi
Lighthouse
Mangrove
Mandu
Osprey
Cloates
Maud
Pelican
Gnarloo
CapeFarquhar
• Reef Condition and coral growth
• Broad scale surveys• Direct measurements of
calcification rates in corals & coralline algae
• Thresholds of grazer biomass (herbivory)
• Fish Biomass• Thresholds for coral cover• Macrophyte-coral interactions• Effects of cyclones
0 10 20 30 40
010
020
030
0
Roving herbivore biomass
Alg
ae b
iom
ass
• Environmental drivers of fish and shark abundance
• Variability and patterns in fish and shark assemblages
• Fishing pressures (effects on recruitment and assemblage structure)
• Regional variations• Condition indicators and thresholds• Links to studies of coral reef health
Fish and Sharks
Recreational fishing Commercial fishing
Environmental pressuresand connectivity
• Habitat mapping and measures of biodiversity
• Connectivity: patterns and drivers• Regional scale oceanographic processes• Variations in fish biomass and productivity• Hydrodynamic forcing• Cross shelf variations in water quality• Underwater optics and remote sensing
Plankton
start Yr 1 Yr 10 etcYr 5
Establishment
KPI fish & shark assemblages
KPI coral reef health
environment
connectivity
mapping
Long term system dynamicsPlanning Ongoing assessment
Program timeline
Program Outcomes
• Strategic input to regional conservation• Benefits to planning and ongoing management by EPA, DEC and
DOF to enable timely responses to human impacts• Provide regional context to management. Conservation and EBFM
decisions not made in isolation• Identification of condition indicators and threshold estimates for
both coral reefs, fishes and sharks• Assessment of the environmental pressures on the
Pilbara/Ningaloo region• Establishment of a shared database management system• Communication strategy
Synergies and Opportunities
• DEC Marine Park monitoring• WAMSI 2 Pilbara & Climate nodes• Integration with other DEC offset projects
(Gorgon, Wheatstone)• Multi-institutional collaborations• Opportunities for data sharing
Thank you
