Marine Biodiversity at Booderee National Park
Field surveys of the marine community
Commonwealth of Australia, 2006
ISBN 0642552193
About the Report
Booderee National Park is a Commonwealth reserve on Aboriginal land on the south-east coast of Australia within the Jervis Bay Territory. Booderee is owned by the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community, the traditional owners of the Bherwerre Peninsula.
The freehold title to the lands and waters of the park was handed back to the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council in 1995.
the park is jointly managed by the Director of National Parks and the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council. Traditional owners are the majority members of the park Board which develops the Booderee National Park Management Plan and manages its implementation.
The Management Plan and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) require comprehensive assessment and management of biodiversity, threatened species and habitats within Booderee National Park. To help meet these requirements, environmental consultants Aquenal Pty Ltd were contracted to conduct a baseline study of the marine biodiversity of Booderee.
The aims of this study were:
- To conduct a baseline survey of the distribution and relative abundance of marine vertebrates, plants and macroinvertebrates.
- To develop a monitoring program for marine rock platform species consistent with techniques used in the baseline assessment.
- To review the Species Profile and Threats Database (SPRAT) listed species and to survey for the presence of species identified as expected to occur.
- To identify species occurring or possibly occurring in the Commonwealth Marine Area of Booderee National Park which are not identified in SPRAT, but which require listing under the provisions of Section 209 and 248 of the EPBC Act.
- Where appropriate, to identify within Booderee National Park principal habitats of listed species and any adverse impacts affecting such habitats or species
- To identify any 'significant' marine species populations (i.e. at the limits of their range, or occurring in habitats in which they are not normally found, presence of larger or smaller size classes than normal, etc.).
This report is a précis of the full scientific report prepared by Aquenal Pty Ltd (Aquenal 2004).
