Marine Zone Management and the EPBC ACT: How Environmental Marine Geological Information Provides Certainty for Petroleum Exploration

In order to protect the diversity of marine life in Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the federal parliament has passed the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999. The Act is being implemented through the design of a national representative system of marine protected areas (MPAs) that will place under protection a representative portion of Australia's EEZ by 2012. A total of 13 MPAs have already been nominated for the southeast region in 2006.
Limited biological data in Australia's EEZ has resulted in biophysical information compiled by Geoscience Australia being used as a proxy for seabed biodiversity in support of marine conservation planning. Information we use to characterise the seabed includes bathymetry, geomorphology, acoustic properties, sediment properties, slope and sediment mobilisation due to waves and tides. To better characterise habitats on the Australian continental shelf, Geoscience Australia is creating 'seascape' maps (similar to geological facies maps) that integrate these multiple layers of spatial data, and are useful for the prediction of the distribution of biodiversity in Australia's EEZ. This information provides 100% spatial coverage based on objective, multivariate statistical methods and offers certainty for managers and stakeholders including the oil and gas industry, who are involved with designing Australia's national MPA system. Certainty for industries operating in the EEZ is enhanced by a reproducible, science-based approach for identifying conservation priorities and the classification of seafloor types within multiple use areas.

为保护澳大利亚专属经济区（Exclusive Economic Zone, EEZ）内的海洋生物多样性，澳大利亚联邦议会于1999年通过《环境保护与生物多样性保护法案》（Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, EPBC Act）。该法案通过构建国家代表性海洋保护区（Marine Protected Areas, MPAs）体系推进实施，计划至2012年将澳大利亚专属经济区内具有代表性的海域纳入保护范畴。2006年，澳大利亚东南部区域已提名共计13个海洋保护区。
受限于澳大利亚专属经济区内的生物数据匮乏现状，澳大利亚地球科学局（Geoscience Australia）编制的生物物理信息被用作海底生物多样性的替代指标，以支撑海洋保护规划工作。本次研究用于表征海底特征的信息包括水深地形、地貌形态、声学特性、沉积物属性、坡度，以及由波浪和潮汐引发的沉积物运移情况。为更精准地刻画澳大利亚大陆架上的海洋生境，澳大利亚地球科学局正制作“海景图”——该类地图类似于地质相图，可整合上述多图层空间数据，用于预测澳大利亚专属经济区内的生物多样性分布格局。
该数据集基于客观多元统计方法实现了100%空间覆盖，可为参与澳大利亚国家海洋保护区体系设计的管理者与利益相关方（包括油气行业）提供确定性决策依据。此外，通过可复现的、基于科学的方法识别保护优先级，并对多用途海域内的海底类型进行分类，进一步提升了在专属经济区内开展业务的行业的决策确定性。