by Mongabay.com on 13 May 2021
The Australian government has moved to create two new marine protected areas that cover an expanse of ocean twice the size of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
The two parks will be established around Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the Indian Ocean to the northwest of continental Australia.
The new parks, which cover to 740,000 square kilometers (286,000 square miles) of ocean, raise the protected share of Australia’s oceans from 37% to 45%.
The decision was immediately welcomed by conservation groups.
The Australian government has moved to create two new marine protected areas that cover an expanse of ocean twice the size of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
A huge area of ocean around two remote Australian territories will be protected as part of the federal budget, leaving conservationists grinning.The Morrison government's 2021/22 budget locks in a $100 million package for protecting the oceans.
A further $18m would protect âiconic marine speciesâ and make fisheries more sustainable, the government said.
The announcement came as the prime minister addressed a virtual summit of global leaders, convened by US president Joe Biden.
Morrison has been under intense political and international diplomatic pressure for months over his refusal to set a net-zero emissions target for 2050 or to improve the countryâs existing 2030 targets.
The US, Japan, Canada and Britain all this week announced improved medium-term emissions targets that are much more ambitious than Australiaâs, which remains stuck at a 26%-28% cut compared with 2005 levels.
On Friday, Morrison told reporters damage to Australian marine ecosystems that stored carbon was releasing 3Mt of CO2 back into the atmosphere each year.
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