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. This is the ninth version of the database, with previous versions released in 1997, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012. The Department also publishes protected areas data for the marine environment. "CAPAD 2014-marine" contains spatial and text information about offshore protected areas, for both State and Commonwealth waters. Previous versions of CAPAD marine information have been 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 department publishes a summary of the CAPAD data biennially on its website at http://www.environment.gov.au/capad/ This version of CAPAD 2014 is a public and downloadable version of CAPAD 2014 data, available for use through the CC-BY licencing model. Main attributes in the full version of CAPAD 2014 include: PA_ID: The protected area ID code. Created from RES_NUMBER if unique, otherwise it is a DoE generated number. NAME: the name of the protected area. Gazetted PAs with no name are flagged as "Unnamed" with a reserve number. TYPE: the type of protected area according to the protected area establishment mechanism. TYPE_ABBR: the abbreviation of the TYPE. AA Aboriginal Area ACCP Conservation Covenant ASMA Antarctic Specially Managed Area ASPA Antarctic Specially Protected Area BG Botanic Gardens CA Conservation Area CCA Coordinated Conservation Area CCAZ1 CCA Zone 1 National Park CCAZ3 CCA Zone 3 State Conservation Area COR Coastal Reserve CP Conservation Park CR Coastal Reserve FLR Flora Reserve FR Forest Reserve GR Game Reserve HA Heritage Agreement HIR Historical Reserve HPOT Biodiversity Hotspot HR Heritage River HS Historic Site HTR Hunting Reserve IPA Indigenous Protected Area KCR Karst Conservation Reserve MA Management Agreement MAA Management Agreement Area MCP National Parks Act Schedule 4 park or reserve MNP Marine National Park MR Miscellaneous Reserve MS Marine Sanctuary NAP Nature Park NCA Natural Catchment Area NCR Nature Conservation Reserve NFR Natural Features Reserve NP National Park NPA National Park Aboriginal NPC National Park (Commonwealth) NR Nature Reserve NRA Nature Recreation Area NREF Nature Refuge NRS NRS Addition - Gazettal in Progress OCA Other Conservation Area OCA/NAP Other Conservation Area / Nature Park OP Other PA Protected Area PNPA Proposed National Parks Act park or park addition PNR Private Nature Reserve PPP Permanent Park Preserve PS Private Sanctuary RA Reference Area REP Regional Park RNA Remote and Natural Area - not scheduled under NPA/Remote and Natural Area - Schedule 6, National Parks Act (Abbreviated as Remote and Natural Area - not scheduled under Nat Parks Act) RP Recreation Park RR Regional Reserve S5G 5(1)(g) Reserve S5H 5(1)(h) Reserve SCA State Conservation Area SP State Park SR State Reserve WPA Wilderness Protection Area WP Wilderness Park WZ Wilderness Zone 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. Where protected area consists of multiple polygons (parts) the GIS_AREA is the sum of all the polygons with the same name, type, state and IUCN category. It is this field that is used to calculate the statistics provided in spreadsheets at: www.environment.gov.au/capad/ REPT_AREA is the same with GIS_AREA (previously REPT_AREA is in hectares from the GAZ_AREA attribute and if this is a null value then the GIS_AREA is used. For Protected areas with multiple records, REPT_AREA is a calculated by dividing GAZ_AREA by GIS_AREA of the total then applying this factor to the GIS_AREA of the record). Due to the fact that not all received data have REPT_AREA, it is incomplete and inconsistent if REPT_AREA is used for analysis. 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_AREA. NRS_PA: This attribute indicates the status of the protected area as part of the National Reserve System (NRS). "Y" = Yes. A protected area located within the State and Territory jurisdiction "I" = an interim protected area - in the process of being gazetted/established. "N" = No. A protected area that does not meet the NRS criteria. "ND" = No Data. 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. EXT= protected areas located in Australian external territories. AUTHORITY: The Authority responsible for the management of the protected area mechanism. AAD Australian Antarctic Division AC_SA Alexandrina Council ACT_TAMSD ACT Territory and Municipal Services Directorate AWC Australian Wildlife Conservancy AWC & BA Australian Wildlife Conservancy & Birds Australia BBT Bookmark Biosphere Trust BHA Bush Heritage Australia CCC_QLD Caloundra City Council CR PTY LTD Conservation Reserves PTY LTD DOE Australian Government, Department of the Environment EAC_QLD Ewamian Aboriginal Corporation EL Inc._NSW Enduring Landscapes Inc. FC_NSW Forestry Commission of NSW FPR Inc. Friends of the Porongurup Range (Inc) GCC_NSW Gosford City Council HCR_CMA Hunter - Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority ILC_NT Indigenous Land Corporation IMG Indigenous management group IMG, LILC Indigenous management group and Local Indigenous Land Council KRGC_NSW Ku-ring-gai Council LHI_Board Lord Howe Island Board LILC Local Indigenous Land Council LVRC_Q_EPA Lockyer Valley Regional Council and QLD EPA MINCA_QLD Magnetic Island Nature Care Association NF SA Inc. Nature Foundation SA Inc NSC_QLD Noosa Shire Council NSW_OEH NSW Office of Environment and Heritage NT_PWCNT Parks and Wildlife Commission of the NT QLD_DERM Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management QLD_EHP Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection QLD_EPA Queensland Environment Protection Agency QLD_NPRSR Queensland Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing SA_DEH South Australian Department of Environment and Heritage SA_DEWNR South Australian Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources F_SA Forestry South Australia SCRC_QLD Sunshine Coast Regional Council TAS_DPIPWE Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment TAS_WPMT Wellington Park Management Trust Tasmania TFN_VIC Trust for Nature (Victoria) TLC Inc_TAS Tasmanian Land Conservancy Inc. TSRA Torres Strait Regional Authority TTTN The Trustee for the Trust for Nature U. Ballarat University of Ballarat VIC_DEPI Victorian Department of Environment and Primary Industries WA_DPAW Western Australian Department of Parks and Wildlife WAC Winangakirri Aboriginal Corporation WEC Worlds End Conservation Pty Ltd DATASOURCE: Describes the source of the data for the protected area, values are: AAD Australian Antarctic Division ACT_TAMSD ACT Territory and Municipal Services Directorate DOE Australian Government, Department of the Environment DOE_NRSP Australian Government, Department of the Environment - National Reserve System Program F_SA Forestry South Australia FC_NSW Forestry Commission of NSW LHI_Board Lord Howe Island Board NSW_OEH NSW Office of Environment and Heritage NT_PWCNT Parks and Wildlife Commission of the NT QLD_EHP Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection 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_DPAW Western Australian Department of Parks and Wildlife GOVERNANCE: Records the type of governance that has management and decision making responsibility. G = Government, C = Community (conserved areas including indigenous peoples or local communities), J = Joint or P = Privately managed. ENVIRON: A protected area gazetted as terrestrial may have a marine component and vice versa. A protected area can be 'T' terrestrial, marine 'M' and both 'B'. Terrestrial CAPAD 2014 contains 'T' and 'B'. Marine CAPAD 2014 contains 'M'. OVERLAP: Shows whether or not the protected area is overlapped by another. Protected areas with a value of '1' are the primary protected area in that area. A protected area with a value of '2' is completely overlapped by another protected area. X_COORD: is the longitude in decimal degrees east within the object closest to the centre of the object using the Geocentric 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 Geocentric Datum of Australia 1994. MGT_PLAN: The code of the status of the management plan for the protected area. Definitions Include: P - In Preparation - Some form of management document was being prepared. D - Draft - A draft management document was released for comment by the public, management board or equivalent. S - Statutory - Enabling legislation establishes the management of a protected area and separate management document is not required. I - Management Intent - A formal statement of management intent has been prepared that clearly sets out the management objectives for the protected area but includes little else. M - Management Plan - A formally adopted management plan that has been through consultation and contains strategies and actions for implementation for this protected area. R - Regional Plan - A formally adopted management plan has been through consultation and contains general strategies and actions for implementation over a group of protected areas. N - Unknown - No form of management document could be found. RES_NUMBER: The reserve number (if declared) as used by the controlling authority. OBJECTID *, Shape *, SHAPE.AREA and SHAPE.LEN are automatically generated ESRI attributes

The National Land & Water Resources Audit (the Audit) collated data and information on the status of Australia’s natural resources and contextual social and economic information.\\n\\nThe information was used to assist in identifying Australia’s natural resource management priorities and will be used to support the evaluation of current and future natural resource management (NRM) investments.\\n\\nhe estuary assessment compiled readily available data and used qualitative and quantitative methods. The assessment provides detail on the condition of Australian estuaries including the amount of modification from the pristine state, drivers of change, susceptibility to further change, and key management needs.

These data describe structural characteristics of mangrove forests at known locations. Some of the data is from sites where trees have been fertilized with nitrogen or phosphorus, while other data are from point centre quarter transects which were used to characterize the site.

Seagrass meadows within the Broadwater were mapped using high-resolution 2005 orthorectified color aerial photography obtained from the Gold Coast City Council at a scale of 1:10,000 and pixel size 0.15 m. Using desktop GIS mapping (MapInfo Professional 8.0), polygons were drawn over all potential seagrass meadows at a scale of 1:5000. Spatial accuracy was estimated to be approximately ± 1 m on well-defined boundaries (e.g. dense seagrass meadows) and ± 2 m along poorly defined boundaries (e.g. sparse seagrass meadows).

The data source of this Australian Coral reef distribution subset has been compiled by UNEP-WCMC to show the global distribution of warm water coral reefs. Global Distribution of Coral Reefs (2010) This dataset represents the global distribution of warm water coral reefs and should be seen an ‘interim’ global product. Note: Editing was carried out in April 2013 when a number of duplicate features were removed. The dataset has been compiled from a number of data sources which have been merged together by UNEP-WCMC and the WorldFish Centre in collaboration with WRI and TNC. It supersedes the dataset used in the World Atlas of Coral Reefs (2001), although some aspects of this product still originate from that data source. This amalgamated dataset has been created to further mobilise the Millennium Coral Reef Map Products and their validation. This data set should by no means replace the official release of the Millennium coral reef map and users should always check at the official sites for the most up-to-date available information. This dataset does not contain the full 5 level geomorphological categorisation. In part, for the validated products, it maintains the simplified Reefbase subset but for the remaining areas i.e. the unvalidated data and data from other sources, there is only a single class to indicate coral reef. The Approximate % coverage of data sources are as follows - Millennium Coral Reefs (Unvalidated) 50% - Millennium Coral Reefs (Validated) 30 % - Other sources 20% The dataset comprises 3 main components and must be cited in the following manner strictly maintaining the three separate entities in their entirety: IMaRS-USF and IRD (2005). Millennium Coral Reef Mapping Project (validated maps). UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Cambridge (UK), http://data.unep-wcmc.org/datasets/13 IMaRS-USF (2005). Millennium Coral Reef Mapping Project (unvalidated maps are unendorsed by IRD, and were further interpreted by UNEP-WCMC). UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Cambridge (UK), http://data.unep-wcmc.org/datasets/13 UNEP-WCMC, WorldFish Centre, WRI and TNC (2010). Global distribution of warm-water coral reefs, compiled from multiple sources, including the Millennium Coral Reef Mapping Project.

The seagrass dataset has been compiled by UNEP-WCMC in collaboration with Dr Frederick T. Short, University of New Hampshire, USA to show the global distribution of seagrass species. This dataset has been created from multiple sources and was used in the creation of the “World Atlas of Seagrasses”(2003). This polygon feature dataset is an update of the data used in the Atlas and is a unique data holding about the state of the world’s seagrasses. For a complete overview of global seagrass distribution this dataset should be displayed together with the associated point dataset.

The seagrass dataset has been compiled by UNEP-WCMC in collaboration with Dr Frederick T. Short, University of New Hampshire, USA to show the global distribution of seagrass species. This dataset has been created from multiple sources and was used in the creation of the “World Atlas of Seagrasses”(2003). This polygon feature dataset is an update of the data used in the Atlas and is a unique data holding about the state of the world’s seagrasses. For a complete overview of global seagrass distribution this dataset should be displayed together with the associated point dataset.

This dataset shows the distribution of mangroves mapped using recently 1997-2000 available Global Land Survey (GLS) data and the Landsat archive.

The data source of this Australian Coral reef distribution subset has been compiled by UNEP-WCMC to show the global distribution of warm water coral reefs. This dataset has been created from multiple sources and is derived from data used in the creation of the World Atlas of Coral Reefs (2001). This polygon feature dataset is an update of the data used in the Atlas but is based on a 1km raster version of the dataset to enable distribution of the data. This is due to restrictions placed by some data sources and suppliers.

This global dataset shows the distribution of mangroves and was compiled by UNEP-WCMC in collaboration with the International Society for Mangrove Ecosystems (ISME).