NESP MaC 5.10: Australian Marine Parks Public Awareness and Usage Survey Data

60 Australian Marine Parks covering 3.8 million square kilometers are managed by Parks Australia. This project will generate aggregated survey data on public knowledge, attitudes, and usage patterns, building on a 2019/20 benchmark to support a statutory management plan review scheduled for 2028. Outputs include responses from recreational user surveys and a final technical report, managed by the Australian Ocean Data Network.

Use Cases

• Benchmark changes in public awareness and attitudes towards marine parks based on repeated national surveys.
• Analyze recreational usage patterns in marine parks based on boat ramp survey data.
• Support management plan reviews by integrating socio-economic data with natural values data.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the sentinel park management approach using integrated socio-ecological indicators.

Strengths

• Covers 60 Australian Marine Parks across 3.8 million square kilometers.
• Survey design is repeatable, enabling temporal comparison against a 2019/20 benchmark.
• Project is integrated with multiple other NESP data synthesis projects (SS2, D7, 1.3, 4.20, 4.21).

Limitations

• Only aggregated survey outputs will be made publicly available; raw data is restricted.
• Column-level documentation and sample data are unavailable, limiting pre-analysis assessment.
• The dataset's scale (row count) is unknown.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Marine and Coastal Hub.

Collection Method

Redesigned national knowledge, attitudes and practice (KAP) surveys targeting recreational users and the general public.

Time Range

Survey likely conducted post-2020, with a benchmark from 2019/20, supporting a review in 2028.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-16 11:10:17.961241; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Australian Marine Parks, including the Coral Sea, North, North-west, South-west, South-east, and Temperate East networks.