The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), as manager of the Reserve on behalf of the Director of National Parks, is responsible for protecting, conserving and managing biodiversity and heritage, and for facilitating research and investigations to help meet these management objectives for the Reserve.
The existing HIMI Marine Reserve Management Plan outlines research and monitoring priorities to contribute to Reserve management, and arise from the 'drivers' described below:
Managing human pressures
Research and environmental monitoring is necessary to improve our understanding of the HIMI environment and how it is changing. This understanding, in turn, helps to develop better management strategies for how we can minimise any changes that are potentially resulting from human activities or pressures.
Legal and other requirements
Monitoring and reporting on the condition of the HIMI environment is also a requirement under Australian legislation. Annual ‘State of the Park’ reporting required for all Commonwealth reserve also involves reporting on the status of the HIMI Marine Reserve, while various recovery plans, actions plans and threat abatement plans require periodic monitoring and reporting on the condition of wildlife populations such as albatrosses and giant petrels, southern elephant seals and Antarctic fur seals.
There are also periodic reporting requirements under international agreements relevant to HIMI, such as reporting on state of the World Heritage values and of the ecological character of the wetlands. Research and environmental monitoring is essential to meet these requirements.
The AAD maintains a State of the Environment Reporting System called SIMR (the System for Indicator Management and Reporting). This internet-based database reporting system provides for the management and evaluation of information relating to environmental indicators of condition, pressure and response.
There are several indicators relevant to HIMI, and additional indicators will be developed to facilitate management and reporting requirements.
SIMR can be accessed via the AAD’s Australian Antarctic Data Centre website.
Ecologically sustainable development
Research within the Reserve contributes to the integrated and ecologically sustainable management of the HIMI region as a whole. Studies of fish stocks, the foraging ranges and diets of land-based marine predators, and the composition and condition of benthic communities provide essential information to guide the sustainable management of the HIMI fishery and the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) region in which the Reserve is located.