Australia to Create Largest Marine Reserve
Posted by Tsing Mui in Tropical Fish Hobbyist Blog on June 29, 2012 at 6:45 am
Australia has created the world’s largest network of marine reserves and will restrict fishing as well as oil and gas exploration in a major step to safeguard the environment and access to food.
With the expansion announced Thursday, Australia will protect 3.1 million square kilometers (1.2 million square miles) of ocean. The reserves will encompass a third of the island continent’s territorial waters, which sustain more than 4,000 species of fish.
Australia is surrounded by the world’s third-largest ocean territory, which provides important habitat to threatened species of whales, sharks, and turtles as well as spectacular corals.
Source: The Christian Science Monitor
Photo: Queensland Tourism/AP
