| Summary | The HIMI Marine Reserve Management Plan, implemented by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, lays out the objectives, rules and guidelines for managing the HIMI Marine Reserve. As of early 2014, the reserve was 65,000km-sq and managed as a Category Ia IUCN MPA (fully no-take). |
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| Project | SESMAD |
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| Subtype | Formal Governance System |
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| Sector | Marine protected areas |
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| Begin Date | 2005 |
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| Explanation | This Australian Commonwealth MPA was declared in 2002 under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The management plan also includes provisions applicable to the Heard and McDonald Islands World Heritage properties, important wetlands, and threatened and migratory species. |
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| End Date | 2012 |
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| Explanation | This management plan was designed to run through 2012. In 2014, a new management plan was implemented and designed to run through 2024. This second management plan aligned with the new larger boundaries of the MPA that was adopted in 2014. |
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| Governance Scale | State-based policy |
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| Explanation | The management plan is state-based since the Heard and McDonald Islands are governed as an Australian territory (despite their distance from the Australian mainland ~4000km). |
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| Governance System Description | MPA Management Plan |
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| Explanation | The HIMI Marine Reserve Management Plan, implemented by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, lays out the objectives, rules and guidelines for managing the HIMI Marine Reserve. |
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| Governance Trigger | Not Applicable |
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| Explanation | |
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| Type Of Formal Governance | Management plan |
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| Explanation | |
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| Mpa Internal Natural Boundaries | Low (1) |
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| Explanation | The MPA is based on CAR principles (being comprehensive, adequate and representative), thus on having a certain percentage of habitats covered. In some areas, it has some coherence (e.g., protecting an entire bank), but in other areas, it has little to no coherence (e.g., MPA boundaries draw as hard lines and squares with on apparent ecologically significance). |
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| Mpa Migratory Life History | Yes- foraging area for many seabirds, including King Penguins and light-mantled albatross. |
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| Explanation | The MPA includes foraging areas for flying seabirds, including migratory albatross. |
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| Mpa Threats To Migratory Sp | ["Resource competition", "Bycatch", "Habitat destruction"] |
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| Explanation | The major threats to migratory flying seabirds that are managed under this governance system are being caught incidentally in longline operations and also to habitat loss from human (e.g., scientists, tourists) and natural (e.g., volcanic) distances. Antarctic fur seals and Southern elephant seals are also threatened by competition for food (Mackerel Icefish, also targeted commercially, see Green 2006). King Penguins at HIMI have also been shown to forage on Mackerel Icefish, particularly in the winter (Moore et al. 1998). |
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| Mpa Threats | Fishing |
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| Explanation | According to the HIMI Marine Reserve Proposal (2002), long-term commercial fishing is the main potential threat to the conservation values of the HIMI region. Other human activities, such as tourism, science or other logistical operations, could also threaten the area, but are a higher risk to the land rather than the ocean parts. Also, fishing is the only activity that takes place regularly (every year); all other human-based activities are intermittent. Environmental threats include volcanism (land) and climate change (land and ocean). |
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| Governance Knowledge Use | ["Scientific knowledge"] |
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| Explanation | With no human habitants on HIMI, the GS exclusively uses scientific knowledge. |
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| Pa Car Principles | Yes (3) |
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| Explanation | These were the foundational principles used in citing this MPA. |
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| Centralization | Highly centralized (4) |
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| Explanation | Governance is controlled almost entirely by major state bodies, especially the Department of the Environment. |
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| Distance To Markets | More than 1000km (4) |
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| Explanation | HIMI is located ~4000km from Western Australia and major markets (the USA, Japan, China) are even further away. |
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| Horizontal Coordination | Missing |
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| Explanation | |
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| Mpa Iucn Somewhat Strict Zones | 0 % |
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| Explanation | The entire MPA is a IUCN category 1a (strict nature reserve) |
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| Mpa Iucn Sustainable Zones | 0 % |
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| Explanation | The entire MPA is a IUCN category 1a (strict nature reserve) |
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| Mpa Budget | 30000 $US |
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| Explanation | 30,000 AU Dollars is budgeted annually for the Heard and McDonald Islands MPA (See Director of National Parks 2013/14 Annual Report). |
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| Mpa Connectivity | No (1) |
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| Explanation | No evidence that connectivity was explicitly considered. Also note that the Heard and McDonald Islands are an Australian overseas territory, so incredibly remote and far from all the other areas that are part of AU's national MPA network. |
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| Mpa Migratory Threats And Redux | Some protection of foraging grounds and protection (on land) of nesting sites. |
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| Explanation | The MPA protects some seabird foraging grounds and most seabird nesting grounds on the islands (land-based protection is included in the MPA management plan). Note that most of the seabird protection measures are actually implemented by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority as seabird bycatch mitigation measures under the 2002 Heard and McDonald Islands Fishery Management Plan (measures are in agreement with CCAMLR seabird conservation measures). |
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| Mpa Motivation | ["Ecological value", "Feasibility"] |
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| Explanation | Ecological value: HIMI was one of five priority areas that the Australian government identified for marine protection as part of their Australian Ocean Policy. Feasibility: Heard and McDonald Islands are incredibly remote. There is no native population and the region is incredibly inhospitable. They islands are only occasionally visited by tourists or scientists. Fishing does occur outside the MPA. |
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| Mpa Primary Goal (In Practice) | ["Biodiversity conservation"] |
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| Explanation | The MPA proposal (2005) defines the main purposes of the MPA to: 1) protect conservation values of Heard Island and McDonald Islands, the territorial sea and the adjacent Exclusive Economic Zone (HIMI EEZ) including: the World Heritage and cultural values of the Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands; the unique features of the benthic and pelagic environments; representative portions of the different marine habitat types; and marine areas used by land-based marine predators for local foraging activities. 2) provide an effective conservation framework which will contribute to the integrated and ecologically sustainable management of the HIMI region as a whole; 3) provide a scientific reference area for the study of ecosystem function within the HIMI region; and 4) add representative examples of the HIMI EEZ to the National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas. |
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| Mpa Protection | ["Protecting key life history stage(s)", "Reducing threats"] |
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| Explanation | The MPA plan actually also includes land-based protection, which encompasses nesting areas for a variety of seabirds as well as Antarctic fur seals and Southern elephant seals. The Ocean component protects foraging grounds and is off limits to fishing. |
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| Metric Diversity | High: Many metrics for success (3) |
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| Explanation | The MPA management plan includes a variety of inter-related goals for biodiversity conservation, sustainable management, protection of areas occupied by species during different life history stages (e.g., juveniles toothfish grounds, nesting areas for seabirds, foraging areas for birds and mammals), reduction of invasive species threats, and more. |
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| Pa Iucn Strict Zones | 100 % |
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| Explanation | The entire MPA is a IUCN category 1a (strict nature reserve) |
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| Social Ecological Fit | Low (1) |
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| Explanation | Heard and McDonald Islands are part of the larger Kerguelen Plateau system. The MPA only encompasses the Australian territorial waters, but not the adjacent French national waters (around Kerguelen) or the high seas (governed by CCAMLR) beyond the AU and FR EEZs. |
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| Mpa Migratory Benefit | Yes |
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| Explanation | The MPA protects breeding grounds and some foraging areas. |
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| Governance System Spatial Extent | |
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| Explanation | |
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