The Collaborative Australian Protected Areas Database (CAPAD) 2014 provides both spatial and text information about government, Indigenous and privately protected areas for continental Australia. State and Territory conservation agencies supplied data current to 30 June 2014. The terrestrial component of the database has been previously released in 1997, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 2010 and 2012.

This version, provides both spatial and text information about off-shore protected areas in both state and Commonwealth waters. State and Territory conservation agencies supplied data current for 30 June 2014. This is the seventh version of the CAPAD- Marine database, with previous versions published in 1997, 2002, 2004, 2008 2010 and 2012.

CAPAD provides a snapshot of protected areas that meet the IUCN definition of a protected area:

"A protected area is an area of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means" (IUCN 1994).

The Australian Government Department of the Environment (DOE) publishes a summary of the CAPAD data biennially on its website at http://www.environment.gov.au/capad

This version of CAPAD 2014-Marine is a public / downloadable dataset available for use through the CC-BY licencing model.

Commercial users: Commercial users should note the availability of a more descriptive dataset for Commonwealth Marine Reserves. It is recommended for use in commercial applications as it includes additional information about management arrangements for Commonwealth Marine Reserves. This dataset is available under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial license from:

http://intspat01.ris.environment.gov.au/fed/catalog/search/resource/details.page?uuid=%7B2E8DD19C-1B93-4D90-BD1C-128DDC4A2998%7D

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IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR MARINE USERS – TRANSITIONAL ARRANGEMENTS

The process for developing management plans has been completed for the five Commonwealth marine reserve networks declared around Australia and the Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve. Until the new management plans come into effect transitional management arrangements are in place. Under these transitional arrangements, there are no changes "on the water" for users in the new areas added to the Commonwealth marine reserve estate. If people hold an existing approval to undertake activities within Commonwealth marine reserves or the now-revoked Coral Sea Conservation Zone, they are able to continue to operate under the terms of the existing approval. No additional administrative requirements apply.

The management plan for the South-east Network came into effect on 1 July 2013 with the management plans for the South-west, North-west, North and Temperate East Networks and the Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve are under review. More information is available at http://www.environment.gov.au/topics/marine/marine-reserves

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Main attributes in the database include:

NAME: the name of the protected area.

TYPE: the type of protected area according to the protected area establishment mechanism.

TYPE_ABBR: the abbreviation of the TYPE.

TYPE abbreviations include:

AQR = Aquatic Reserve

CA = Conservation Area

CMR = Commonwealth Marine Reserve

DPAA = Dugong Protection Area (A)

DPAB = Dugong Protection Area (B)

DS = Dolphin Sanctuary

FHAA = Fish Habitat Area (A)

FHAB = Fish Habitat Area (B)

FHPA = Fish Habitat Protection Area

IPA = Indigenous Protected Area

LS = Rock Lobster Sanctuary

MAR = Marine Reserve

MCA = Marine Conservation Area

MMA = Marine Management Area

MNNR = Marine National Nature Reserve

MNP = Marine National Park

MNR = Marine Nature Reserve

MP = Marine Park

MR = Marine Reserve

MS = Marine Sanctuary

NP = National Park

NR = Nature Reserve

SH = Shipwreck Reserve

IUCN: the IUCN protected area management category ascribed by the Managing authority, as outlined in the publication: CNPPA/WCMC "Guidelines for Protected Area management categories". Gland: IUCN, 1994. (ISBN: 2-8317-0201-1).

Definitions include:

IA Strict Nature Reserve: managed mainly for science;

IB Wilderness Area: managed mainly for wilderness protection;

II National Park: managed mainly for ecosystem protection;

III Natural Monument: managed mainly for conservation of specific natural features;

IV Habitat / Species Management Area: managed mainly for conservation through management intervention;

V Protected Landscape / Seascape: managed mainly for landscape/seascape conservation and recreation;

VI Managed Resource Protected Area: managed mainly for the sustainable use of natural ecosystems.

GAZ_AREA: area in hectares as described in the nomination document (e.g. parliamentary gazettal), to the nearest hectare. Some protected areas do not have a specific area in the designation.

GIS_AREA: area in hectares based on current spatial data and an Albers equal area projection for Australia.

GAZ_DATE: the first gazettal or proclamation date that established any protected area at this site.

LATEST_GAZ: the date of the most recent gazettal or proclamation to add land to the protected area. It can be the same date as the GAZ_DATE.

NRS_PA: This attribute indicates the status of the protected area as part of the National Reserve System (NRS). "Y" = a protected area located within the Commonwealth, State and Territory jurisdiction. "N" = a protected area that does not meet the NRS criteria. "ND" = a protected area that does not meet NRS criteria, but compliments the NRS with sympathetic management.

STATE: The state is the state that the protected area is located in. COM = protected areas located in Commonwealth Waters.

AUTHORITY: The Authority responsible for the management of the protected area mechanism.

AUTHORITY abbreviations include:

DOE = Australian Government, Department of the Environment

GBRMPA = Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority

IMG = Indigenous Management Group

NSW_DPI = NSW Department of Primary Industries

NT_PWCNT= Parks and Wildlife Commission of the NT

PIRSA = Primary Industries and Resources SA

QLD_DEEDI = QLD Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation

QLD_DPIF = QLD Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

QLD_NPRSR = Queensland Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing

SA_DEWNR = South Australian Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources

TAS_DPIPWE = Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment

VIC_DEPI = Victorian Department of Environment and Primary Industries

WA_DOF = Western Australian Department of Fisheries

WA_DPAW = Western Australian Department of Parks and Wildlife

DATASOURCE: Describes the source of the data for the protected area, values are:

DATA SOURCE abbreviations include:

DOE = Australian Government, Department of the Environment

GBRMPA = Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority

NSW_DPI = NSW Department of Primary Industries

NT_PWCNT= Parks and Wildlife Commission of the NT

PIRSA = Primary Industries and Resources SA

QLD_DEEDI = QLD Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation

QLD_DPIF = QLD Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

QLD_NPRSR = Queensland Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing

SA_DEWNR = South Australian Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources

TAS_DPIPWE = Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment

VIC_DEPI = Victorian Department of Environment and Primary Industries

WA_DOF = Western Australian Department of Fisheries

WA_DPAW = Western Australian Department of Parks and Wildlife

GOVERNANCE: Records the type of governance that has management and decision making responsibility. G = Government, J = Joint.

ENVIRON: Protected areas in the Marine CAPAD dataset are classified as 'M'. Marine components of terrestrial parks are included in CAPAD (terrestrial) as Environ= 'B' (Both).

X_COORD: is the longitude in decimal degrees east within the object closest to the centre of the object using the Geodetic Datum of Australia 1994.

Y_COORD: is the latitude in decimal degrees south within the object closest to the centre of the object using the Geodetic Datum of Australia 1994.

OBJECTID *, Shape *, SHAPE.AREA and SHAPE.LEN are automatically generated ESRI attributes