Protected areas of Australia include Commonwealth and off-shore protected areas managed by the Australian government, as well as protected areas within each of the six states of Australia and two self-governing territories, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, which are managed by the eight state and territory governments. Commonwealth and off-shore protected areas in the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, the Christmas Island Territory, the Cocos Islands Territory, the Norfolk Island Territory and the Australian Antarctic Territory are managed by Director of National Parks, an agency within the Department of the Environment and Energy, with the exception of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which is managed by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, a separate body within the department. Protected areas cover of Australia's land area, or about 11.5% of the total land area. The Australian Capital Territory has the highest level of protection at nearly 55% of its territory, followed by Tasmania with nearly 40% and South Australia with 25%. The lowest level of protection is in Queensland and the Northern Territory with less than 6%. Of all protected areas, two-thirds are considered strictly protected, and the rest is mostly managed resources protected area. Over 80% of the protected area in Australia is publicly owned and managed by the Australian government or state and territory governments. The second-largest component of protected areas are the Indigenous Protected Areas while only 0.3% are privately owned.
Protected areas managed by the Australian government
The following list shows only the Commonwealth and off-shore protected areas that are managed by the Australian government which represents a small portion of all protected areas located in Australia. Each state and territory is responsible for the management of the protected areas under its jurisdiction with exception to protected areas such as the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in the Northern Territory. The majority of Australian protected areas are managed by the state and territory governments.
National Parks
The following protected areas which are designated as national parks are managed by the Australian government and in some instances in conjunction with indigenous land owners:
The Australian Government manages an estate of marine protected areas known as Commonwealth marine reserves which was established under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. These marine reserves are in Australian waters, but not state or territory waters. A majority of the reserves are not in effect until new managements plans are released following a review of reserves established in 2012. In addition to the Coral Sea CMR and the Heard Island and McDonald Islands CMR, there are a further 57 Commonwealth marine reserves grouped into 5 geographical regions called Commonwealth marine reserve networks:
North network
North-west network
Temperate East network
South-east network
South-west network
Calperum and Taylorville Stations
Calperum and Taylorville Stations are pastoral leases located next to each other near Renmark in South Australia and which were purchased for conservation purposes using both private and Australian government funds. Calperum Station was purchased by the Chicago Zoological Society in 1993 while Taylorville Station was purchased by the Australian Landscape Trust in 2000 with the ownership of both leases being deeded to the Director of National Parks. Both properties are managed by the Australian Landscape Trust.
Protection arising from Australian government policy and international obligations
World Heritage listed areas
, the following sites are listed by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites:
An Indigenous Protected Area is a class of protected area formed by agreement with Indigenous Australians and formally recognised by the Australian government as being part of the National Reserve System. there are 75 IPAs occupying about and comprising more than 44% of the National Reserve System.
As a contracting party to the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, Australia is encouraged "to nominate sites containing representative, rare or unique wetlands, or that are important for conserving biological diversity, to the List of Wetlands of International Importance". As of March 2014, the Australian Government has nominated 65 Ramsar sites.
