THE NSW Government’s Marine Estate Management Authority has released a paper, Managing the NSW Marine Estate: Purpose, Underpinning Principles and Priority Setting.
The paper outlines the vision, principles and processes the Authority will use in advising the NSW Government on management of the marine estate.
Following the Independent Scientific Audit of Marine Parks, the Authority, with guidance from the independent Marine Estate Expert Knowledge Panel, is driving implementation of the new approach to managing the marine estate.
“Given the passion the people of NSW have for their marine estate and their strong and wide-ranging opinions it’s important that the Authority is clear with the community about how the advice we provide to Government will be developed,”
the independent Chair of the Authority, Dr Wendy Craik, said.
“Based on the Government response to the Audit our vision for the marine estate is to have a healthy coast and sea, managed for the greatest well-being of the community, now and into the future.”
Ten principles for managing the marine estate are contained in the paper, beginning with “effective community engagement to identify and prioritise benefits and threats”.
“There’s a clear focus on community consultation and seeking the community’s advice on what’s important to them about the marine estate. We will also be seeking their views on what they see as the threats to these values,” Dr Craik said.
“The paper shows how the Authority will evaluate alternative uses and seek to maximise community benefits from the NSW marine estate.”
Further information is available at www.marine.nsw.gov.au, where the paper is available to view or download.
