Towards 30x30: Quantifying stressors on Australia's coasts
Abstract
Australia has recently committed to protecting 30% of its land and ocean by 2030 (called 30x30). Connecting land and sea, coastal ecosystems are heavily utilised and threatened with multiple stressors impacting them. While 80% of Australians live in coastal areas and highly depend on them, cumulative coastal stressors have not been systematically quantified or mapped to include both land and marine-based stressors. This study aims to fill this gap by quantifying and mapping cumulative impacts across Australia's coastal areas, providing a key step towards prioritising actions for protecting coastal ecosystems and identifying future actions for both the highly impacted and remaining 'coastal wilderness' areas, moving towards the 30x30 target.
