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Marine Protected Areas
The most recent management plan was prepared in 2002 under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. This management plan expired on 25 June 2009 and interim management arrangements will apply until a new management plan is in place.
Ashmore Reef National Nature Reserve (Ashmore) is located in the Timor Sea about 840 kilometres west of Darwin and 610 kilometres north of Broome. Ashmore includes 583 square kilometres of seabed, three small islands, a large reef shelf and surrounding waters. Rising from a depth of over 100 metres, Ashmore Reef is an example of a shelf-edge atoll. The reef platform is at the edge of the North-west Shelf and covers an area of 239 square kilometres.
Ashmore is located in Australia’s External Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands and is also within an area subject to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Indonesia and Australia, known as the MoU Box. Ashmore is the largest of only three emergent oceanic reefs present within the north-eastern Indian Ocean and is the only oceanic reef in the region with vegetated islands.
Ashmore is situated where the biogeographical regions of Australia and South east Asia intersect to produce outstanding conservation values. It is regarded as a biodiversity hotspot supporting a diverse array of terrestrial and marine species, in particular significant communities of sea snakes, dugongs, reef building corals, fish and other marine invertebrate fauna. Ashmore also provides important seabird and marine turtle nesting sites and provide staging points and feeding areas for large populations of migratory shorebirds.
In recognition of the international importance of Ashmore in relation to its biodiversity, Ashmore was declared a Ramsar Wetland of International Significance in 2003.
