Flinders Commonwealth Marine Reserve is a 27,043km
2 marine protected area
Marine protected areas (MPA) are protected areas of seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity for a cons ...
within
Australian waters located off the coast of north-east
Tasmania. It extends to the outer limits of the Australian
exclusive economic zone in the
Tasman Sea. The reserve was established in 2007
and is part of the
South-east Commonwealth Marine Reserve Network
Australian marine parks (formerly Commonwealth marine reserves) are marine protected areas located within Australian waters and are managed by the Australian government. These waters generally extend from three nautical miles off the coast to the ...
.
The reserve area contains habitat for
lace corals,
sea sponges and
giant crabs. A prominent feature is a large offshore
seamount
A seamount is a large geologic landform that rises from the ocean floor that does not reach to the water's surface (sea level), and thus is not an island, islet or cliff-rock. Seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise abr ...
believed to be too deep to have been fished. Seamounts generally host a wide variety of habitats that support
deep ocean biodiversity, the large seamounts to the east of Tasmania are individually important, as they are expected to include
endemic species.
Protection
Most of the Flinders marine reserve area is
IUCN protected area category
IUCN protected area categories, or IUCN protected area management categories, are categories used to classify protected areas in a system developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The enlisting of such areas is part ...
II and zoned as 'Marine National Park'. A small portion near the coast is zoned as 'Multiple Use' (IUCN VI).
[
]
See also
*Commonwealth marine reserves
Australian marine parks (formerly Commonwealth marine reserves) are marine protected areas located within Australian waters and are managed by the Australian government. These waters generally extend from three nautical miles off the coast to the ...
*Protected areas of Australia
Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although t ...
* Flinders Island
* Pacific Ocean
Notes
References
External links
Flinders Commonwealth Marine Reserve Network website
{{Protected areas managed by the Australian Government , state=collapsed
South-east Commonwealth Marine Reserves Network
Protected areas established in 2007