The Ningaloo Marine Park (formerly known as the Ningaloo Commonwealth Marine Reserve) is an

Australian marine park Australian marine parks (formerly Commonwealth marine reserves) are marine protected areas located within Australian waters and are managed by the Australian government. These waters generally extend from three nautical miles off the coast to the ...

offshore of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, and west of the

Ningaloo Coast The Ningaloo Coast is a World Heritage Site located in the north west coastal region of Western Australia. The heritage-listed area is located approximately north of Perth, along the East Indian Ocean. The distinctive Ningaloo Reef that fring ...

. The marine park covers an area of and is assigned IUCN category IV. It is one of the 13 parks managed under the

North-west Marine Parks Network Australian marine parks (formerly Commonwealth marine reserves) are marine protected areas located within Australian waters and are managed by the Australian government. These waters generally extend from three nautical miles off the coast to the ...

. A marine park of the same name lies directly east, but is managed by the

Department of Parks and Wildlife The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and e ...

of Western Australia.

Conservation values

Species and habitat

* Has a high abundance of Manta Rays within lagoons and outer reef areas. *Foraging areas for vulnerable and migratory

whale shark The whale shark (''Rhincodon typus'') is a slow-moving, filter-feeding carpet shark and the largest known extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of .McClain CR, Balk MA, Benfield MC, Branch TA, Chen C, Cosgrove J, D ...

s. *Foraging areas and adjacent to important nesting sites for

marine turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, ...

s. *Includes part of the migratory pathway of the protected

humpback whale The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh up to . The hump ...

Bioregions and ecology

The reserve includes shallow shelf environments and provides protection for shelf and slope habitats, as well as pinnacle and terrace seafloor features. Examples of the seafloor habitats and communities of the Central Western Shelf Transition provincial bioregion.

Conservation Issues

Climate change is of high concern within this marine park due to effects such as

ocean acidification Ocean acidification is the reduction in the pH value of the Earth’s ocean. Between 1751 and 2021, the average pH value of the ocean surface has decreased from approximately 8.25 to 8.14. The root cause of ocean acidification is carbon dioxid ...

, flooding, storms, and increased wave energy.

History

The marine park was originally proclaimed under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975 on 20 May 1987 as the Ningaloo Marine Park (Commonwealth Waters). The marine park was proclaimed under the EPBC Act on 14 December 2013 as a Commonwealth Marine Reserve and renamed Ningaloo Marine Park on 9 October 2017.

Summary of protection zones

The Ningaloo Marine Park has been assigned

IUCN protected area category IUCN protected area categories, or IUCN protected area management categories, are categories used to classify protected areas in a system developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The enlisting of such areas is part ...

IV. However, within the marine park there are two protection zones, each zone has an IUCN category and related rules for managing activities to ensure the protection of marine habitats and species. The following table is a summary of the zoning rules within the Ningaloo Marine Park:

References

External links

*
North-west Marine Parks Network - Parks Australia

North-west Marine Parks Network - environment.gov.au (outdated)
{{Protected areas managed by the Australian Government , state=collapsed Australian marine parks Ningaloo Coast