Draft “Threat and Risk Assessment Report for the NSW marine estate” released for comment

The Marine Estate Management Authority has released the draft Threat and Risk Assessment Report for the NSW marine estate (see media release).

The public comment period closes on Friday, 31 March 2017. Key marine estate stakeholders will be invited to participate in a series of workshops to be held along the coast in February and March.

The draft statewide threat and risk assessment (draft statewide TARA) identifies, assesses and prioritises the threats to the social, economic and environmental benefits we, the NSW community, derive from the marine estate.

Stakeholder and community engagement has commenced with the release of the draft statewide TARA report, background reports and supporting material, including three informative videos on the marine estate website.

An interactive tool is provided to assist the community navigate, interrogate and provide feedback on the findings of the draft statewide TARA. The interactive tool will be used to gather additional evidence from stakeholders to inform the final statewide TARA. Submissions through the tool can be made until 31 March 2017.

The statewide TARA will be used to inform the development of management initiatives to address priority threats at varying scales, including local, regional and statewide via the NSW Marine Estate Management Strategy (as required by the Marine Estate Management Act 2014), and new management plans for marine parks.

An updated marine estate Schedule of works has also been released and identifies priority areas of work, including the Statewide TARA.