Marine Natural Values Study Summary - Parks Victoria

Potentially thirty two species ofmarine flora and fauna are at theirdistributional limits in Western PortBay and may occur within the park.Major ThreatsMeasures to address or minimisethreats form part of the parkmanagement plan. Parks Victoriaalso uses an adaptive managementapproach which includes periodicreviews of priority natural values andthreats through processes such as theState of the Parks evaluation andsetting of desired conservationoutcomes. Through these processesParks Victoria has identified emergingthreats and developed appropriatemanagement responses and actions.Serious threats for Churchill IslandMarine National Park include oil spills,invasive marine pests, humandisturbance and fox predation ofbirds, and excessive nutrients andsediments from the catchment.The Northern Pacific seastar Asteriasamurensis is well established in PortPhillip Bay and was recently foundat San Remo (although the San Remopopulation may have been eradicated).There are concerns about possiblespread of this species to the park.Mangroves Avicennia marina fringing Churchill IslandMarine National Park. Photo Chris Hayward, Parks Victoria.Climate change also poses a seriousmedium to long term threat tonatural values. Parks Victoria will usean adaptive management approachto develop responses and actions thatfocus on priority climate change issuessuch as extreme weather events andexisting risks that will likely beexacerbated by climate change.Research and MonitoringParks Victoria has establishedextensive marine research andmonitoring programs that addressimportant management challengesfor the marine national parks andsanctuaries. These focus on improvingbaseline knowledge, as well as appliedmanagement questions.Since the establishment of the parksin 2002 our knowledge andunderstanding of natural values andthreats for the system have improvedsignificantly through the marinescience program. Much of theresearch has been undertaken aspart of the Research Partners Programinvolving collaboration with variousresearch institutions.There are four ongoing researchprojects and one habitat mappingproject that are relevant to ChurchillIsland Marine National Park, whilefour research projects and one habitatmapping project have alreadybeen completed.While recognising there are stillknowledge gaps Parks Victoria willcontinue to focus on addressingthe information needs that willassist management.For more information, includingmarine habitat mapping products,please see the full versions of theMarine Natural Values reportson www.parks.vic.gov.au.60