Environmental commitments

The Commonwealth and Queensland governments have committed to protect marine species and habitat through a variety of legislation, conventions and international agreements. Relevant legislation, national strategies, and legally binding agreements that influence how Moreton Bay Marine Park is managed are summarised below.

State legislation

In Queensland, the primary legislation regulating marine park management is the Marine Parks Act 2004, which is supported by the Marine Parks Regulation 2017 (the Regulation) and the Marine Parks (Declaration) Regulation 2006 (Declaration Regulation) and each marine park’s zoning plan. The Act and Regulations apply to all three State marine parks. The aim of the Act is 'to provide for conservation of the marine environment'. The Regulation provides for the overall management and use of marine parks, while the Declaration Regulation details the boundaries of Queensland's marine parks. Each zoning plan provides the management detail for the marine park, including establishment of a network of zones which afford different levels of protection and use, and designated areas to protect values or uses at specific locations. Entry or use provisions for each zone and designated area specify activities that are either as of right or require a permit. Other State legislation and policies which have relevance to Moreton Bay Marine Park include:

• Fisheries Act 1994 which declares Fish Habitat Areas and manages use, development and protection of state fisheries resources, fish habitats and management of aquaculture activities
• Environmental Protection Act 1994. The objective of this Act is to protect Queensland's environment while allowing ecologically sustainable development
• Transport legislation, including the Transport Operations (Marine Pollution) Act 1995 and Transport Operations (Marine Safety) Act 1994, which protects Queensland's marine and coastal environment by minimising discharges of ship-sourced pollutants into coastal waters
• Coastal Protection and Management Act 1995 provides for the protection, conservation, rehabilitation and management of coastal resources and values
• Queensland State Planning Policy protects matters of state interest in land use planning and development. Moreton Bay Marine Park’s highly protected marine national park and conservation park zones are matters of state environmental significance under the policy.

National strategies

Australia's governments have agreed to protect marine environments through a national system of marine protected areas—the National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas (NRSMPA). The main objective of the NRSMPA is to protect Australia's unique marine values by creating a system of protected areas which represent a variety of marine ecosystems. The Australian Inter-government Agreement on the Environment (1992) commits each state and territory to meet the aims of the NRSMPA.

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) aims to protect the environment, in particular to matters of National Environmental Significance such as: Ramsar wetlands; listed threatened species and ecological communities; and listed migratory species. It provides for the conservation and protection of threatened species and habitats by regulating actions that are likely to impact on the environment.

In managing Moreton Bay Marine Park, the Queensland Government also has regard for national strategies such as:

• the National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development that sets out the framework for co-operative decision-making in government and the promotion of ecologically sustainable development throughout Australia
• Australia’s Strategy for Nature 2024-2030 that sets national targets to tackle the drivers of biodiversity decline. It aims to bridge the gap between current threatening activities and the effective identification, conservation and management of Australia's biological diversity. The vision of the strategy includes 'to halt and reversebiodiversity loss by 2030, putting nature on a path to recovery, meaning that by 2050 we will be living in harmony with nature’.

Queensland has an obligation to address relevant management actions identified in recovery plans or management statements prepared under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) for listed threatened species, including:

• Recovery Plan for marine turtles in Australia 2017 – 2027
• Australian National Recovery Plan for the Grey nurse Shark EPBC Act 1999 Conservation Advice – Grey nurse shark
• Australian National Recovery Plan for the Water mouse (false water rat)
• EPBC Act 1999 - Wildlife Conservation Plan for Migratory Shorebirds
• EPBC Act 1999 Conservation Advice – Eastern Curlew
• EPBC Act 1999 Conservation Advice – Curlew Sandpiper

International obligations

The NRSMPA also helps Australia meet its responsibilities and obligations under international agreements such as:

• the United Nations' Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) aims to conserve biological diversity at all levels and share in the benefits of genetic resources fairly; the most recent 2022 CBD global target to protect biodiversity is to - ensure and enable that by 2030 at least 30 per cent of marine and coastal areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, are effectively conserved and managed through ecologically representative, well-connected and equitably governed systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures. The concept of protecting representative areas of all habitat types within marine protected areas underpins the basis of Australian and international best practice management principles for habitat and biodiversity protection in marine parks, which aim for a “no-take” zone network to be Comprehensive – Adequate – Representative – Efficient (CARE).
• the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (the Bonn Convention), an international treaty that aims to conserve terrestrial, marine and avian species over the whole of their migratory range.
• migratory shorebird agreements for the protection of migratory shorebirds including Japan-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement (JAMBA), China-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement (CAMBA) and Republic of Korea-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement (RoKAMBA).
• the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar Convention) aims to conserve significant wetlands and waterfowl by establishing nature reserves on wetlands. The importance of Moreton Bay's wetlands to migratory shorebirds has led to it being recognised internationally as a Ramsar site.
• the Convention on Conservation of Nature in the South Pacific aims to create protected areas and protect endangered species.
• the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to facilitate cooperation between countries to ensure the sustainability of animal trade.