The work has been carried out during the past 12 months with funding from the Natural Heritage Trust, with support from NSW NPWS and NSW Fisheries. The aims of the assessment were to:

• develop methods to implement identification and selection criteria for NSW from the Guidelines for Establishing the National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas (ANZECC1998);

• review existing MPA categories in NSW and their role in a State representative system;

• develop guidelines to implement MPA categories;

• develop criteria and methods to describe NSW marine ecosystem units;

• review methodologies for coastal micro-regionalisation in NSW;

• document abiotic and biotic variation in the Manning Shelf Bioregion through a micro-regionalisation approach;

• map marine ecosystem units within the Manning bioregion;

• provide information for future gap analysis of MPAs in the Manning bioregion; and

• identify options for MPAs in the Manning bioregion.

As part of the micro-regionalisation approach, habitat units have been mapped at both large scale (brackish, lagoon, barrier and drowned valley estuaries and major offshore depth zones) and medium scale (beaches, intertidal rocky shores, rocky reefs and islands, mangroves, seagrass and saltmarsh). The maps will be used to assess the representation of major patterns of biodiversity in MPAs and will provide a framework for evaluating finer scale community and species data.

The types of marine environment found in the Manning bioregion have been classified and described (see box), which will help identify potential MPAs in the Manning Shelf Bioregion. Where available, the finer scale data is being linked with the habitat classification in a geographic information system (GIS) along with data sets describing condition, vulnerability, use and management of the marine environment and adjacent areas.

To introduce the project to the community, a series of public information meetings were conducted at Port Stephens, Forster and Port Macquarie in 2000. When the assessment report is completed, and after review by Environment Australia, it will be released as a public information document. The identification of candidate sites for marine protected areas will then follow, and the community will be encouraged to participate in discussions on their final selection. To ensure that all interests are considered in the selection, declaration, planning and management of MPAs, the Marine Parks Authority works closely with representatives from tourism, fishing, Aboriginal, conservation and recreational groups and local, State and Federal governments.

For more information about the Manning Bioregional Assessment, you can write to: Manning Project, Marine Parks Authority, Private Bag 1, Nelson Bay 2315.