Australian Marine Conservation Society

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Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS)
Founded1965
Brisbane, Australia
Type Non-governmental organization
Focus Environmentalism
Location
Area served
Australia
Method Activism
Website www.marineconservation.org.au/

The Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) is an Australian environmental not-for-profit organisation. It was founded in 1965 as the Queensland Littoral Society before changing its name to the Australian Littoral Society and then finally in 1995 to its current title. [1] It works on protecting the health and vitality of Australia's coasts and oceans.

Contents

The Australian Marine Conservation Society is Australia's only national charity dedicated exclusively to protecting ocean wildlife and their homes.

The Australian Marine Conservation Society is an independent charity.

The Patron of the Australian Marine Conservation Society is author Tim Winton.

Campaigns

The key focus of AMCS is to create large marine national parks (marine sanctuaries), sustainable fisheries and protect and recover threatened ocean wildlife, such as sharks, seals and whales. AMCS also works to protect Australia's coasts from inappropriate development, including along the Great Barrier Reef.

Fight For Our Reef

AMCS has worked to protect the Great Barrier Reef for many years from threats such as industrialisation, port development, coral mining and dumping. Today, AMCS focuses on saving the Great Barrier Reef from climate change after two mass coral bleaching events affected half of all shallow water corals in 2016 and 2017. The AMPTO and tourism operators in North Queensland work with AMCS to represent the voices of tourism employees and their reliance on a healthy Great Barrier Reef for employment.

AMCS also works to improve the laws and regulations around water quality and water pollution in Queensland. Chemicals, sediment and fertilisers wash away into Great Barrier Reef waters and this has detrimental effects on corals and sea grass beds. In 2019, AMCS worked on tightening water pollution regulations in Queensland and new laws came into effect in December, 2019. [2]

Whaling

Ending whaling has been a key focus for the AMCS since the 1970s. AMCS worked on a global campaign in the 1980s that led to the world's first global ban on commercial whaling. In 1982 the International Whaling Commission (IWC) put a hold on commercial whaling of all whale species and populations. This moratorium came into effect in 1985 and is a ban that remains in place today. [3]

Representatives from AMCS attend the IWC every two years and work with other NGOs such as International Fund for Animal Welfare and Humane Society International for anti-whaling, pro-conservation outcomes.

Despite a global ban on commercial whaling, Japan found a loophole and continued to hunt whales under the guise of "scientific purposes" in the Southern Ocean. [4] Pressure from AMCS's advocacy work led to Australia taking Japan to court in 2013 over Japan's governments claims that its Antarctic whaling program was for "scientific purposes". The International Court of Justice issued a binding ruling in March 2014 that Japan's Antarctic whaling program broke international law and had to immediately stop. Japan did not hunt whales for a year after this ruling.

Key Achievements

Prevented mining on the Great Barrier Reef

Known then as the Queensland Littoral Society, the AMCS contested and defeated a proposal to mine limestone on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef in the 1960s. The organisation then went on to lead the public campaign to protect the Reef from mining and oil exploration.[ citation needed ]

Notable Staff

Tooni Mahto

Tooni Mahto is a marine biologist who worked at the BBC prior to moving to Australia. [5]

Imogen Zethoven AO

Imogen Zethoven was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for service to conservation and the environment. [6]

Felicity "Flic" Wishart

Felicity Wishart's last campaign was Fight for the Reef on behalf of the Australian Marine Conservation Society, where she fought against environmental threats to the Great Barrier Reef, in particular coal industry development in the Galilee Basin. [7] In June 2017, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority announced that Reef No. 18-022 about 50 kilometres (31 mi) north-east of Hinchinbrook Island had been named Felicity Wishart Reef in her honour. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whaling</span> Hunting of whales

Whaling is the hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16th century, it had become the principal industry in the Basque coastal regions of Spain and France. The whaling industry spread throughout the world and became very profitable in terms of trade and resources. Some regions of the world's oceans, along the animals' migration routes, had a particularly dense whale population and became targets for large concentrations of whaling ships and the industry continued to grow well into the 20th century. The depletion of some whale species to near extinction led to the banning of whaling in many countries by 1969 and to an international cessation of whaling as an industry in the late 1980s.

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is a specialised regional fishery management organisation, established under the terms of the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) to "provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Barrier Reef</span> Coral reef system located in the Coral Sea in Australia

The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometres (1,400 mi) over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres (133,000 sq mi). The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia, separated from the coast by a channel 160 kilometres (100 mi) wide in places and over 61 metres (200 ft) deep. The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms. This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps. It supports a wide diversity of life and was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981. CNN labelled it one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World in 1997. Australian World Heritage places included it in its list in 2007. The Queensland National Trust named it a state icon of Queensland in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Barrier Reef Marine Park</span> Protected area in Queensland, Australia

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park protects a large part of Australia's Great Barrier Reef from damaging activities. It is a vast multiple-use Marine Park which supports a wide range of uses, including commercial marine tourism, fishing, ports and shipping, recreation, scientific research and Indigenous traditional use. Fishing and the removal of artefacts or wildlife is strictly regulated, and commercial shipping traffic must stick to certain specific defined shipping routes that avoid the most sensitive areas of the park. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest and best known coral reef ecosystem in the world. Its reefs, almost 3000 in total, represent about 10 per cent of all the coral reef areas in the world. It supports an amazing variety of biodiversity, providing a home to thousands of coral and other invertebrate species, bony fish, sharks, rays, marine mammals, marine turtles, sea snakes, as well as algae and other marine plants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coral Sea</span> Marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia

The Coral Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) down the Australian northeast coast. Most of it is protected by the French Natural Park of the Coral Sea and the Australian Coral Sea Marine Park. The sea was the location for the Battle of the Coral Sea, a major confrontation during World War II between the navies of the Empire of Japan, and the United States and Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Institute of Cetacean Research</span> Controversial Japanese whaling body that purports to be focused on research

The Institute of Cetacean Research is a research organization specializing in the "biological and social sciences related to whales".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whaling in Japan</span> Commercial hunting of whales by the Japanese fishing industry

Japanese whaling, in terms of active hunting of whales, is estimated by the Japan Whaling Association to have begun around the 12th century. However, Japanese whaling on an industrial scale began around the 1890s when Japan started to participate in the modern whaling industry, at that time an industry in which many countries participated. Japan resumed commercial whaling in July 2019, and since then whaling activities have been confined to its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marine conservation</span> Protection and preservation of saltwater ecosystems

Marine conservation, also known as ocean conservation, is the protection and preservation of ecosystems in oceans and seas through planned management in order to prevent the over-exploitation of these marine resources. Marine conservation is informed by the study of marine plants and animal resources and ecosystem functions and is driven by response to the manifested negative effects seen in the environment such as species loss, habitat degradation and changes in ecosystem functions and focuses on limiting human-caused damage to marine ecosystems, restoring damaged marine ecosystems, and preserving vulnerable species and ecosystems of the marine life. Marine conservation is a relatively new discipline which has developed as a response to biological issues such as extinction and marine habitats change.

Greenpeace Australia Pacific (GPAP) is the regional office of the global environmental organisation Greenpeace. Greenpeace Australia Pacific is one of Australia's largest environmental organisations.

The Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary is an area of 50 million square kilometres surrounding the continent of Antarctica where the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has banned all types of commercial whaling. To date, the IWC has designated two such sanctuaries, the other being the Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental threats to the Great Barrier Reef</span>

The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest reef systems, stretching along the East coast of Australia from the northern tip down at Cape York to the town of Bundaberg, is composed of roughly 2,900 individual reefs and 940 islands and cays that stretch for 2,300 kilometres (1,616 mi) and cover an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres (133,000 sq mi). The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland in northeast Australia. A large part of the reef is protected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marine conservation activism</span> Non-governmental efforts to bring about change in marine conservation

Marine conservation activism is the efforts of non-governmental organizations and individuals to bring about social and political change in the area of marine conservation. Marine conservation is properly conceived as a set of management strategies for the protection and preservation of ecosystems in oceans and seas. Activists raise public awareness and support for conservation, while pushing governments and corporations to practice sound ocean management, create conservation policy, and enforce existing laws and policy through effective regulation. There are many different kinds of organizations and agencies that work toward these common goals. They all are a part of the growing movement that is ocean conservation. These organizations fight for many causes including stopping pollution, overfishing, whaling and by-catching, and supporting marine protected areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whale conservation</span> Conservation of whales

Whale conservation refers to the conservation of whales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-whaling</span>

Anti-whaling refers to actions taken by those who seek to end whaling in various forms, whether locally or globally in the pursuit of marine conservation. Such activism is often a response to specific conflicts with pro-whaling countries and organizations that practice commercial whaling and/or research whaling, as well as with indigenous groups engaged in subsistence whaling. Some anti-whaling factions have received criticism and legal action for extreme methods including violent direct action. The term anti-whaling may also be used to describe beliefs and activities related to these actions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coral Sea Reserves Ramsar Site</span> Marine nature reserve off Australia

The Coral Sea Reserves Ramsar Site comprises the 17,289 km2 of oceanic island and reef habitats within the former Coringa-Herald National Nature Reserve and the former Lihou Reef National Nature Reserve in the Australian Coral Sea Islands Territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ninney Rise</span> Historic site in Queensland, Australia

Ninney Rise and John Busst Memorial are a heritage-listed house and memorial at 405 Alexander Drive and Esplanade, Bingil Bay, Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by John Busst and built circa 1960 by John Busst. It is also known as John and Alison Busst's Residence. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 6 August 2010.

John Horatio Busst was an artist and conservationist in Queensland, Australia. He is best known for leading a successful campaign to protect Queensland's Great Barrier Reef and its tropical rainforests from development, mining pressures and exploitation.

Felicity Jane "Flic" Wishart was an Australian conservationist and environmental activist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valerie Taylor (diver)</span> Australian underwater photographer

Valerie May Taylor AM is a conservationist, photographer and filmmaker, and an inaugural member of the diving hall-of-fame. With her husband Ron Taylor, she made documentaries about sharks, and filmed sequences for films including Jaws (1975).

Imogen Zethoven is an Australian environmental conservationist. She was instrumental in the establishment of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and has won international recognition for her conservation work.

References

  1. "Final issue". Bulletin of the Australian Littoral Society. St Lucia, Queensland. 18 (1). February 1995. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  2. "Water Quality Laws will give our Great Barrier Reef a cleaner future, says Australian Marine Conservation Society". Australian Marine Conservation Society. 18 September 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  3. "Whaling". Australian Marine Conservation Society. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  4. "Australian Government must take action as Japan kills whales again". Australian Marine Conservation Society. 15 December 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  5. "BBC - Oceans - Programme and cast - Tooni Mahto". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  6. "Department of the environment and conservation, Australia". Biological Conservation. 5 (4): 311. October 1973. doi:10.1016/0006-3207(73)90169-9. ISSN   0006-3207.
  7. Zethoven, Imogen (9 August 2015). "Obituary: Fight to save Franklin River was just the start for this campaigner". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  8. "Living memorial for Australian conservationist". www.gbrmpa.gov.au. Retrieved 13 February 2020.