Ocean policy kept on ice

In late 1994 Australia accepted responsibility for more than 11 million km 2 of the world's oceans. This stunning additional responsibility was bestowed upon Australia when it ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Under this Convention, Australia has gained access to all the resources in this massive area of sea, which stretches from the tropics in the north to the cold sea around our Antarctic islands, such as Heard Island, in the south. If Australia does not use these resources it is obliged to establish processes by which they are made available to other countries. But under the Convention Australia is also responsible for the conservation of the ecological processes and biodiversity within this enormous area. Hence Australia has to balance the development of these ocean resources with their conservation, an onerous and vital task. The new area of sea is roughly equivalent to the land area of Australia and some writers have already expressed their hope that Australia can plan and manage the seas more rationally and sustainably than European Australians have managed to utilise the land in the last 200 yr. It is truly a splendid opportunity to learn from our past and strive for truly ecologically sustainable use and conservation of the sea areas around the continent.