Marine Environmental Assets in Victoria, Australia

Marine environmental asset boundaries identified for Victoria's coastal regions. Assets were rated by experts for statewide, bioregional, or local significance based on their value for marine biodiversity and ecological processes. The layer supersedes an earlier version and is provided by the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action.

Use Cases

• Map marine biodiversity hotspots based on expert-assessed significance ratings.
• Analyze spatial distribution of significant marine ecological processes.
• Support marine conservation planning by overlaying asset boundaries with other protected areas.
• Compare environmental asset significance across different marine regions (Port Phillip Bay, Western Port, Western Victoria, Gippsland).

Strengths

• Asset significance was rated by experts using a defined statewide, bioregional, or local scale.
• Identification process involved separate expert workshops for four distinct marine regions.
• The layer supersedes an earlier version (ASSET_MARINE), indicating iterative improvement.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Some significant asset areas (e.g., Blue Whale feeding areas) are excluded from the layer.

Provenance

Source

Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action

Collection Method

Assets identified through expert workshops in four marine regions.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-09 05:33:11.601372; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Victoria, Australia, covering marine regions: Port Phillip Bay, Western Port, Western Victoria, Gippsland.