Marine Park balance

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THE perfect balance of marine conservation in the Solitary Islands Marine Park will again be discussed at a forum that’s open to a broad range of interest groups.

Titled the Solitary Islands Community Marine Conservation Forum, the discussion forum hosted by the National Parks Association will be held at Coffs Harbour’s National Marine Science Centre on Saturday, July 9.

It aims to tackle the challenge of looking for shared values in marine conservation amongst marine park user groups.

NPA of NSW Ceo Kevin Evans said the association is keen to allow different stakeholders to talk about marine conservation from their perspective.

“We believe that the combination of respectful listening and the opportunity to engage across stakeholder groups using a proven public participation format can be very productive,” Mr Evans said.

“The recent scientific audit of marine parks has come up with many recommendations for marine conservation that we think a broad range of groups could embrace.

NPA’s Marine Education facilitator Gary Schoer said the morning forum will see five speakers take to the floor and discuss marine science and marine park management.

The perspectives of recreational and commercial anglers, divers and conservation groups will be put forward.

“There will be an interactive ‘Q&A’ session after lunch with audience participants able to submit questions of the speakers and additional panellists from the tourism industry, local government, the local Catchment Management Authority and spearfishers,” Mr Schoer said.

“There will be further networking opportunities during ‘mini-excursions’ to the aquarium and marine science labs at the end of the day.

“We hope that this forum will generate some positive ways forward for marine conservation in NSW,” Mr Schoer said.

There are still vacancies for the Forum. Ring the NPA office on (02) 9299 0000 for more information and to register.