Question: What is the largest protected area in Australia?

Protected areas of Australia





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ConservationProtected areas
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Protected areas of Australia include Commonwealth and off-shore protected areas managed by the Australian government, as well as protected areas within each of the six states of Australia and two self-governing territories, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, which are managed by the eight state and territory governments.
Commonwealth and off-shore protected areas in the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, the Christmas Island Territory, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Territory, the Norfolk Island Territory and the Australian Antarctic Territory are managed by Director of National Parks, an agency within the Department of the Environment and Energy, with the exception of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which is managed by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, a separate body within the department.
Protected areas cover 895,288km2 (345,673sqmi) of Australia's land area, or about 11.5% of the total land area. The Australian Capital Territory has the highest level of protection at nearly 55% of its territory, followed by Tasmania with nearly 40% and South Australia with 25%. Lowest level of protection is in Queensland and the Northern Territory with less than 6%.[1] Of all protected areas, two-thirds are considered strictly protected (IUCN categories I to IV), and the rest is mostly managed resources protected area (IUCN category VI). Over 80% of the protected area in Australia is publicly owned and managed by the Australian government or state and territory governments. The second largest component of protected areas are the Indigenous Protected Areas while only 0.3% are privately owned.[2]
Protected areas managed by the Australian government
The following list shows only the Commonwealth and off-shore protected areas that are managed by the Australian government which represents a small portion of all protected areas located in Australia. Each state and territory is responsible for the management of the protected areas under its jurisdiction with exception to protected areas such as the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in the Northern Territory.  The majority of Australian protected areas  are managed by the state and territory governments.
National Parks
The following protected areas which are designated as national parks are managed by the Australian government and in some instances in conjunction with indigenous land owners:[3]
Booderee
Christmas Island
Kakadu
Norfolk Island
Pulu Keeling
Uluru-Kata Tjuta
Australia's first national park - and the second in the world - is Royal National Park in New South Wales, established in 1879.[4]
Botanical Gardens
Australian National[5]
Booderee[6]
Norfolk Island[7]
Antarctic Specially Protected Areas

As of 2014 there are 12 Antarctic Specially Protected Areas[8]
Amanda Bay
Ardery Island and Odbert Island
Clark Peninsula
Frazier Islands
Hawker Island
Marine Plain
Mawson's Huts
North-eastern Bailey Peninsula
Rookery Islands
Scullin and Murray Monoliths
Stornes
Taylor Rookery
Antarctic Specially Managed Areas

As of 2014 there is 1 Antarctic Specially Managed Area[8]
Larsemann Hills
Commonwealth Marine reserves

The Australian Government manages an estate of marine protected areas  known as Commonwealth marine reserves (CMR) which was established under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). These marine reserves are in Australian waters, but not state or territory waters.[9][10] A majority of the reserves are not in effect until new managements plans are released following a review of reserves established in 2012.[11][12]
In addition to the Coral Sea CMR[13] and the Heard Island and McDonald Islands CMR,[14] there are a further 57 Commonwealth marine reserves grouped into 5 geographical regions called Commonwealth marine reserve networks:
North network (8 reserves)[15]
North-west network (13 reserves)[16]
Temperate East network (8 reserves)[17]
South-east network (14 reserves)[18]
South-west network (14 reserves)[19]
Calperum and Taylorville Stations

Calperum and Taylorville Stations are pastoral leases located next to each other near Renmark in South Australia and which were purchased for conservation purposes using both private and Australian government funds.  Calperum Station was purchased by the Chicago Zoological Society in 1993 while Taylorville Station was purchased by the Australian Landscape Trust in 2000 with the ownership of both leases being deeded to the Director of National Parks.  Both properties are managed by the Australian Landscape Trust.[20][21]
Protection arising from Australian government policy and international treaty obligations
World Heritage listed areas

Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Riversleigh/Naracoorte)
Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, formerly Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves
Fraser Island
Great Barrier Reef
Greater Blue Mountains Area
Heard and McDonald Islands
Kakadu National Park
Lord Howe Island
Macquarie Island
Purnululu National Park
Shark Bay
Tasmanian Wilderness
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
Wet Tropics of Queensland
Willandra Lakes Region
Source: UNESCO [22]

Ramsar sites
As a contracting party to the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (known as the Ramsar Convention), Australia is encouraged "to nominate sites containing representative, rare or unique wetlands, or that are important for conserving biological diversity, to the List of Wetlands of International Importance".[23]  As of March 2014, the Australian Government has nominated 65 Ramsar sites.[24]

Biosphere reserves
The following biosphere reserves belonging to the UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve program are located within Australia:[25][26]
Croajingolong, Victoria (1977)
Riverland, South Australia (1977)
Kosciuszko, New South Wales (1977)
Prince Regent River, Western Australia (1977)
Mamungari (formerly Unnamed), South Australia (1977)
Uluru (Ayers Rock-Mount Olga), Northern Territory (1977)
Yathong (1977)
Fitzgerald River, Western Australia (1978)
Hattah-Kulkyne and Murray-Kulkyne, Victoria (1981)
Wilsons Promontory, Victoria (1981)
Mornington Peninsula and Western Port, Victoria (2002)
Barkindji, New South Wales (2005)
Noosa, Queensland (2007)
Great Sandy, Queensland (2009)

Indigenous protected areas
An indigenous protected area (IPA) is a class of protected area formed by agreement with Indigenous Australians and formally recognised by the Australian government as being part of the National Reserve System.  As of August 2013, 60 IPAs with a total area of 48,000,000 hectares (120,000,000 acres) have been declared.[27][28]

Protected areas managed by Australian states and territories
Refer:
Protected areas of the Australian Capital Territory
Protected areas of New South Wales
Protected areas of the Northern Territory
Protected areas of Queensland
Protected areas of South Australia
Protected areas of Tasmania
Protected areas of Victoria
Protected areas of Western Australia
See also
Australia's National Reserve System
Australian Whale Sanctuary
Conservation park (Australia)
List of national parks of Australia
National parks of Western Australia
Wild Rivers