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Issue: Societal responses to direct pressures of human activities on coasts and oceans - Protection of coasts, oceans and marine and coastal biodiversity

This is an issue under the Coasts and oceans theme of the Data Reporting System.

Why we need to know about this issue

Degradation of ecosystems is characterised by declines in population and distribution of species comprising, inhabiting and interacting in a habitat. Legislative protection of species and areas and management processes flowing out of that protection are important responses to species and habitat decline.

Indicators

• CO-33 Number of species legislatively protected, number with management plans or where management actions have been taken 
  Degradation of ecosystems is characterised by declines in population and distribution of species comprising, inhabiting and interacting in a habitat. Legislative protection of species and management processes flowing out of that protection are important responses to species decline.
  Number of species under protection is one way of measuring this but needs to be treated with caution since legislative protection does not protect all species that are actually threatened.
• CO-34 Number and extent of Marine Protected Areas 
  Number and extent of coastal and marine protected areas is one measure of societal will to generically address degradation in the condition of these areas and their biodiversity.
• BD-05 Alignment of State/Territory and Australian Government listing processes 
  Alignment of listing process for protection of species is likely to be an indication of enhanced protection processes.
• BD-04 Listed threatened species or ecological communities for which recovery action is showing stable or increasing populations 
  Any trends towards recovery by listed species is an indication that protection processes are proving effective.
• CO-02 Number of marine species that are endangered or threatened and changes in population/ distribution of selected threatened species 
  Providing protection under national legislation, namely listing under the EPBC Act, is a national scale societal response to loss of biodiversity, and is indicative of that response. Recovery rates of listed species are indicative of the effectiveness of the response.

Related issues

• Coasts and Oceans - Condition of the ocean and coastal waters- Condition of species, habitats and ecosystems 
• Biodiversity - Species, habitats and ecological communities- Conservation status of species and ecological communities 
• Coasts and Oceans - Societal responses to direct pressures of human activities on coasts and oceans- Societal responses to direct pressures of human activities on the coasts and oceans: Responses to pressures of coastal activities 
• Coasts and Oceans - Societal responses to direct pressures of human activities on coasts and oceans- Societal responses to direct pressures of human activities on the coasts and oceans: Responses to pressures of fishing 
• Coasts and Oceans - Societal responses to direct pressures of human activities on coasts and oceans- Societal responses to direct pressures of human activities on coasts and oceans: Responses to shipping pressures