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Marine protected areas, totalling 11.7 per cent of Victoria's
marine environment, have been reserved to protect environmental,
historical or cultural features. This audit examined how
effectively marine protected areas have been managed to protect
biodiversity. It assessed the roles of Parks Victoria, and the
Departments of Sustainability and Environment and Primary
Industries, in the environmental management of marine protected
areas.
Parks Victoria cannot show that marine biodiversity is being
protected or that the related management obligations of applying
resources as intended are being discharged. Little environmental
management activity is evident within marine protected areas.
The statewide management strategy has neither been fully
implemented nor evaluated before expiring in 2010. An absence of
regular risk assessment review, detailed action plans and a lack of
evaluation—both of management plans and activities—undermine
planning at the park level. There were also gaps identified in the
Department of Sustainability and Environments lead role in marine
environmental policy and marine pest biosecurity.
In common with our 2010 performance audit, Control of Invasive Plants and Animals in
Victoria's Parks, this audit points to systemic weaknesses with
park planning, program management and resource allocation that
should be addressed.
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