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Pilbara Marine Conservation Partnership (PMCP)

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. CSIRO. UWA. Russ Babcock

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Pilbara Marine Conservation Partnership (PMCP)

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  1. 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

  2. Team Leaders CSIRO UWA • Russ Babcock • Ming Feng • Mat Vanderklift • Olly Berry • Damian Thompson • Dirk Slawninski • Roland Pitcher • Mick Haywood • Richard Pillans DEC Dept. of Fisheries • Kim Friedman • Steve Newman Shaun P. Collin Gary Kendrick Malcolm McCulloch Euan Harvey Anya Waite Ryan Lowe Jim Falter Timothy Langlois Carlos Duarte Greg Ivey

  3. 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

  4. 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

  5. Scope Development • Linking inshore archipelago to DEC Marine Park Estate within the 50m bathymetry line • Filling a major information gap in region

  6. Regional Net Conservation Benefits Condition benchmarks, impacts Pressure Response (Partnerships with DEC, DoF, EPA) KPI Threshold Coral Reef Habitats Corals Algae Plankton Natural and Anthropogenic Environmental Drivers Habitats and biodiversity Oceanographic connectivity Climate change Fishing pressure Nutrient supply Cyclones/flooding events Management Uptake & Actions Education Zoning Compliance Code of practice Management Marine Parks Fish and Sharks Predators Prey Grazers

  7. Themed Objectives • Coral Reef Health • Fish and Sharks • Environmental Pressures and Connectivity

  8. Coral Reef Health • 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 Ningaloo Fish Surveys

  9. Fish and Sharks Recreational fishing Commercial fishing • 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

  10. 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

  11. Program timeline Planning Establishment Ongoing assessment Long term system dynamics mapping connectivity environment KPI coral reef health KPI fish & shark assemblages start Yr 1 Yr 5 Yr 10 etc

  12. 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

  13. 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

  14. Thank you

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