This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub project "Improving socio-ecological understanding of natural values in Australian Marine Parks". No public data outputs will be generated by this project. -------------------- Parks Australia (Australian Government) manage 60 Australian Marine Parks (AMPs) around the country, covering an area of 3.8 million square kilometres, or 43% of all Australian waters. The approach to managing AMPs is set out in eight Management Plans: one for each of the five marine park networks (North, North-west, South-west, South-east and Temperate East) and one each for the Coral Sea Marine Park, Christmas Island Marine Park and Cocos (Keeling) Islands Marine Park. A statutory review of Management Plans for the North, North-west, South-west, Temperate-East networks and the Coral Sea Marine Park is scheduled for 2028. Socio-economic information is needed alongside natural values data to assess management effectiveness and understand how Australians use, value and perceive the marine park system. This project progressed the use of socio-economic information to support Australian Marine Park management and the 2028 management plan review. It builds on previous NESP research by redeveloping socio-economic benchmarks aligned with Parks Australia’s sentinel park approach and network-scale reporting, and complements NESP-led data synthesis projects (SS2, D7, 1.3, 4.20 and 4.21). The project redesigned two repeatable national surveys: a knowledge, attitudes and practice boat ramp survey targeting recreational fishers and non-fishers who use Australian Marine Parks, and a general public survey exploring broader community awareness, attitudes and views on management zones. Nine boat-ramp survey locations were selected with Parks Australia to support park- and network-scale estimates of recreational use covering the Coral Sea, and North, North-west, South-west, South-east and Temperate East networks. The survey design and sampling regime provide a basis for assessing changes in awareness, attitudes and use patterns since the 2019/20 benchmark. Combined with natural values data, these outputs strengthen the Management Effectiveness system and support more integrated reporting on the social, economic and ecological values of Australian Marine Parks. Outputs • Responses from recreational user surveys [dataset]. In accordance with National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research, only aggregated outputs will be made publicly available. • Final technical report [written]

This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub scoping study - "National Areas of Interest for Seabed Mapping, Characterisation and Biodiversity Assessment". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- Seabed and marine biodiversity data are time-consuming and costly to collect, so it is imperative that acquisition is focused on areas that align with end user priorities. The value that different stakeholders place on seabed and biodiversity data can be difficult to determine. Therefore, a shared process for identifying survey priorities is required to ensure the maximum shared benefit of future survey investment across research users, funding agencies, infrastructure providers, as well as the wider marine research community. The project aimed to assist with the planning and prioritisation of marine surveys (both physical and biological) by scoping a prioritisation framework for marine surveys undertaking physical and biological seabed data collection in Australia. Focused workshops and targeted engagements with seabed mapping organisations were used to develop a standard set of metadata for agencies to define spatial Areas of Interest (AOI). The standard metadata were used in a prototype prioritisation framework that allows users to transparently and consistently rank and prioritise survey work or data delivery processes. The prioritisation is then based on rankings established by defined sets of criteria. A web-based AOI submission tool and mapping publication service was then developed for these defined areas as part of the AusSeabed Survey Coordination Tool. Adoption of this tool facilitates the development of an interim national areas of interest product to inform future survey planning. This product supports both the needs of Parks Australia's network Science Plans, and consideration of information needs for Indigenous Protected Areas within Sea Country. Outputs • National Areas of Interest polygon & interactive map [dataset] • Code for Survey Coordination Tool [Github Repo] • Final Report with Value Prioritisation Framework [written]

This record provides an overview of the NESP Marine and Coastal Hub project "Synthesis of environmental values to support the review of Australian Marine Park management plans". For specific data outputs from this project, please see child records associated with this metadata. -------------------- Parks Australia (Australian Government) manage 60 Australian Marine Parks (AMPs) around the country, covering an area of 3.8 million square kilometres, or 43% of all Australian waters. The approach to managing AMPs is set out in eight Management Plans, one for each of the five marine park networks (North, North-west, South-west, South-east and Temperate East) and one each for the Coral Sea Marine Park, Christmas Island Marine Park and Cocos (Keeling) Islands Marine Park. A statutory review of Management Plans for the North, North-west, South-west, Temperate-East networks and the Coral Sea Marine Park is scheduled for 2028. This review requires accessible, synthesised evidence on science outputs, natural values, socio-economic values and pressures across parks and networks. This project supports the 2028 statutory review by synthesising relevant NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub, NESP Marine and Coastal Hub, and Parks Australia-contracted work from 2017 onwards. These reports bring together science outputs, natural values, pressures and socio-economic information from 2017 onwards, aggregated where possible to Park and Network scales. The project reviewed the data summaries, workflows and reporting tools used to prepare the synthesis reports, and identified opportunities to better integrate this infrastructure. These recommendations support future AMP management effectiveness reporting, statutory review processes, and national environmental assessment and impact reporting. Outputs • Catalogue of available data for each reviewed Network (North, North-west, South-west, Temperate East) and the Coral Sea AMP [data inventory] • Synthesis report [written] for each region that will include: - a summary of science activity and outputs since 2017 - summaries of the state and trend of Natural Values and Pressures since 2017, aggregated by Ecosystem Component, Ecosystem Depth Zone, AMP, and AMP Zone type (where possible) • Final technical report (including recommendations to support AMP management and reporting) [written]