Western Australia’s North West Shelf contributes more than $15 billion dollars annually to the national economy and is one of the most economically significant land or sea regions in Australia. It produces the majority of Australia’s domestic and exported oil and gas, and hosts commercial fisheries, aquaculture, salt production, tourism, and shipping associated with the transport of oil, gas, salt and iron ore.

An integrated, ecologically based management framework is vital to protecting the integrity and productive capacity of this marine ecosystem for all interest groups.

These industries operate in a 110,000-square-kilometre region of tremendous natural wealth and biodiversity covering some 1500 km of coastline, from North West Cape in the west to Port Hedland in the east. An integrated, ecologically based management framework is vital to protecting the integrity and productive capacity of this marine ecosystem for all interest groups.

Considerable environmental research had already been completed on the North West Shelf by industry, Western Australian and Federal Government authorities, and research organisations such as CSIRO, the Australian Institute of Marine Science and Geoscience Australia. However, there was a clearly identified need to integrate past research so as to address significant gaps in knowledge and to improve environmental decision making, planning and management.

In June 2000, the Federal Minister for Science, Industry and Resources, Senator Nick Minchin, and the Western Australian Minister for the Environment, Cheryl Edwardes, agreed to fund a major collaborative study to provide a scientific basis for integrated planning and management of the North West Shelf environment and resources.

The Western Australian government allocated $2.7m to the study to provide the impetus for additional support and involvement of the key stakeholders from the research, industry and government agencies operating on the North West Shelf. CSIRO responded by contributing $5m to successfully complete the joint collaborative study over six years.