Save our last great whale haven

The federal government is currently developing bioregional plans for each of Australia's marine regions. This is a wonderful opportunity to safeguard our most beautiful and important animals and places - once complete it has the potential to be a world class initiative for ocean protection.

Unfortunately, our sources in the government’s say the plan for the northwest marine region does not protect it from the oil and gas industry. Please urge your MP to make sure the government protects this critical whale and dolphin habitat from becoming an industrial wasteland.

Take action now

Please write to your MP today asking him or her to protect the North-west marine region from harmful industrial development, and ask him or her to pass on your message to Environment Minister Burke and the Federal Government. We’ve prepared the following letter – please feel free to personalize it, and then click submit at bottom of page.

I am deeply concerned that the Government’s current proposals for marine protected areas in Commonwealth waters off the North-west of Australia fall short of the level of ambition required to protect these globally important and relatively untouched tropical waters.

A recent report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) revealed that this area has an incredible diversity of whales and dolphins, including numerous threatened and migratory species. Some 32 different species of whales and dolphins live in or migrate through the region, including the recently discovered Australian snubfin dolphin, the endangered blue whale and the world’s largest, yet still recovering, population of humpback whales.

The region’s cetaceans are under threat from rapid and widespread development of the oil and gas industry and the accompanying noise pollution, disturbance and risk of ship strike and oil spill.  The Government’s proposed marine reserves network and bioregional plan for the North-west Marine Region do not offer protection that is in any sense adequate for the scale of the threats over the next 50 years.

The IFAW report identifies several important areas for whales and dolphins that are not protected under the Government’s proposals and underscores the need for more protected areas and further research about the animals that live in the region.

At the very same time that the Department for Environment is consulting on protection of this region, the Department for Resources is busy handing out new oil and gas leases in areas of important habitat for whales, dolphins and other marine life.

Australia aspires to be a world leader in protecting whales on the international stage. I want to see the Federal Government put as much effort into protecting whales in our domestic waters.

Please write to Environment Minister, Tony Burke, and ask that the Government dramatically improve its proposals for highly-protected marine sanctuaries in the Commonwealth waters of North-west Australia.

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Bears	Primates
Big Cats	Raptors
Cats & Dogs	Rhinos
Dolphins	Seals
Elephants	Tigers
Foxes	Turtles
Penguins	Whales
Polar Bears	Wolves

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