The Turnbull Government has released its draft plans for our suspended National Network of Marine Sanctuaries.
Unbelievably, they have completely ignored their own science recommendations, the voice of the Australian public and the pleas of local communities.
Devastating cutbacks are proposed for our best-loved marine treasures right around the country, opening the door to destructive commercial fishing and to oil and gas giants. At Lord Howe, Geographe Bay, Perth Canyon, the Great Australian Bight, the Gulf of Carpentaria, the Kimberley and our Coral Sea, the cradle to the Great Barrier Reef.
Now they are seeking feedback from the public.
I’ve just added my name to save our sanctuaries and thought you might like to do the same: http://saveourmarinelife.org.au/cutbacks
If these plans go ahead, we will be the first country in the world ever to go backwards on marine protection. Is this the record we want for Australia? In a country with more unique marine life than any other country on Earth, and whose lifestyle, livelihoods and tourism depend on health oceans.
The timing could not be worse.
In the face of the devastating coral bleaching, unprecedented mangrove dieback and disappearing kelp forests we’ve seen over the last year, our sanctuaries are more important than ever before.
The Coral Sea is hardest hit. More than half the globally significant sanctuary has been stripped away and some of the world’s most important reefs opened up, including Osprey Reef which has been described by David Attenborough as the perfect reef.
There is overwhelming community support for these sanctuaries, including from the vast majority of recreational fishers. There is international scientific consensus that sanctuaries are the best thing we can do to protect our oceans. And there’s been work by all sides of politics over many decades that is now being completely undone.
Hundreds of thousands of Australians came together to create our National Network of Sanctuaries. This is the moment for all of us to speak out to defend it.
Please take a moment to add your name today:
http://saveourmarinelife.org.au/cutbacks
Thanks,
Tom
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