Parks Victoria

Our Partners

Key Research Goals of Agency

Across Victoria there are 30 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). These include Marine National Parks (MNP), Marine Sanctuaries (MS), Marine and Coastal Parks, Marine Parks and a Marine Reserve. MPAs span Victoria’s five marine bioregions and aim to conserve and protect ecological processes, habitats and associated flora and fauna. MNPs and MSs are ͞no-take͟areas, while the other MPAs are managed or multiple uses. Information obtained from properly designed and implemented research and monitoring programs is essential to effectively manage Victoria’s MPAs.

A comprehensive marine research and monitoring program has been in place since the establishment of marine national parks in 2002. The research program is mostly undertaken through collaboration with research institutions which are part of Parks Victoria’s Research Partners Panel, while the monitoring program is implemented through a combination of research partnerships, contracts and community based programs. The marine research and monitoring programs address management challenges, focusing both on improving baseline knowledge of the MPAs as well as applied management questions not being addressed by others. This knowledge will continue to enhance Parks Victoria’s capacity to implement evidence-based management through addressing critical knowledge gaps.

Key Partner Contact: Michael Sams

Marine Science Manager

Long term monitoring of temperate reef ecosystems
Marine protected area management
Biodiversity assessment and monitoring

How long-term collaboration has helped local management

Parks Victoria has had a long association with Professor Graham Edgar, and the University of Tasmania, through the marine science program for the marine national parks and sanctuaries.

Several years ago, the University also officially became one of Parks Victoria’s partners through the Research Partners Program. The long term Australian Temperate Reef Collaboration with the University of Tasmania, other research institutions and MPA science managers from other jurisdictions has helped Parks Victoria to address some of the key knowledge gaps for the Victorian MPAs and helped support evidence-based management of the parks.

Some example benefits of the collaboration include directly quantifying recovery of exploited species and flow-on trophic effects to populations of other reef species in the existing system of Victorian MPAs, greatly improving understanding of source/sink dynamics across the MPA system, developing new metrics of food web processes for accurate mapping of the scale of human impacts on reefs, and identifying improved and more targeted management strategies. Much of this research would not have been possible without this collaboration.

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