Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2018L00322:front:0:p13
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2018L00322
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 34466–37672

available on the Parks Australia website. Other important sources of information on values (also on the Department's website) include:
  * Species profile and threats database for protected species;
  * Directory of important wetlands in Australia;
  * Australian heritage database for natural, historic and Indigenous heritage places;
  * Australian national shipwreck database for known shipwrecks;
  * National Conservation Values Atlas;
  * Marine bioregional plan for the North-west Marine Region (2012); and
  * North-west marine bioregional plan: bioregional profile (2008).
Table 2.1 Summary of values in the North-west Network
Statement of significance
The North-west Network was designed to protect representative examples of the region's ecosystems and biodiversity in accordance with the Goals and principles for the establishment of the National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas in Commonwealth waters (ANZECC, 1998).
Natural values
Bioregions—the North-west Marine Region is divided into areas of ocean grouped by broadly similar characteristics based on the distribution of marine species and seafloor features (bioregions). The Network represents examples of the region's marine environments including ecosystems, species and habitats. There are eight bioregions represented in the North-west Network (Schedule 2).
Key ecological features—elements of the marine environment considered to be of importance for biodiversity or ecosystem function and integrity, represented in the Network are:
  * Ashmore Reef and Cartier Island and surrounding Commonwealth waters
  * Continental slope demersal fish communities
  * Canyons linking the Argo Abyssal Plain with the Scott Plateau
  * The ancient coastline at the 125-m depth contour
  * Mermaid Reef and the Commonwealth waters surrounding the Rowley Shoals
  * Exmouth Plateau
  * Canyons linking the Cuvier Abyssal Plain with the Cape Range Peninsula
  * Commonwealth waters adjacent to Ningaloo Reef.
Species and habitats—all species and habitats are important components of the ecosystems represented in the North-west Network. Many species are protected under the EPBC Act and international agreements such as the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS or Bonn Convention), the Japan–Australia Migratory Bird Agreement (JAMBA), the China–Australia Migratory Bird Agreement (CAMBA), and the Republic of Korea–Australia Migratory Bird Agreement (ROKAMBA). Further information on these agreements is in Schedule 1.
The North-west Network supports important habitats, including biologically important areas, for a range of protected species. Biologically important areas are where aggregations of individuals of a protected species breed, forage and rest during migration. More information on protected species and biologically important areas can be found in the Marine bioregional plan for the North-west Marine Region (2012) and the conservation values atlas on the Department's website.
Ashmore Reef Ramsar site
The Ashmore Reef Ramsar site is located within the boundary of the Ashmore Reef Marine Park. The site was listed under the Ramsar Convention in 2002 and is a wetland of international importance