Made up of nearly 3,000 individual reefs, the Great Barrier
Reef off the coast of Queensland extends for 2,600 kilometers and is the
world's largest structure made of living organisms. It's even visible from
space.
A favorite on UNESCO's World Heritage list, this delicate
ecosystem is home to porpoises, green sea turtles, whales and dugongs. But the
reef is threatened by climate change and coral bleaching that occurs when water
temperatures rise.
More on CNNGo: Will the Great Barrier Reef die by 2050?
Fee: An environmental management fee (EMC) of AU$5.50
(US$5.30) is charged per person per day.
Base your visit from any of the towns on the east coast of
Queensland between Gladstone and Thursday Island.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park protects a large part of
Australia's Great Barrier Reef from damaging activities. Fishing and the
removal of artefacts or wildlife (fish, coral, sea shells, etc.) is strictly
regulated, and commercial shipping traffic must stick to certain specific
defined shipping routes that avoid the most sensitive areas of the park. The
Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest cluster of corals and other exotic
marine life.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) are
the administrators of the park. They issue permits for various forms of use of
the marine park, and monitor usage in the park to ensure compliance with park
management. The GBRMPA is funded by Commonwealth Government Appropriations that
include an environmental management charge levied on the permit-holders
passengers. Currently this is A$5.50 per day per passenger (to a maximum of
$16.50 per trip).
The park lies east of the mainland coast of Queensland,
starting in the north at Cape York. Its northern boundary is the circle of
latitude 10°41'S (running east up to the eastern edge of the Great Barrier Reef
at 145º19'33"E),[2] thereby encompassing those few uninhabited Torres
Strait Islands that are east of Cape York, south of 10°41'S and north of
11°00'S. The largest of those island are Albany Island (5.9 km2 or 2.3 sq mi),
Turtle Head Island 12.8 km2 or 4.9 sq mi and Trochus Island 2.2 km2 or 0.85 sq
mi. Further islands are Mai Island 0.25 km2 or 0.097 sq mi, Bush Island 0.2 km2
or 0.077 sq mi, Tree Islet 0.01 km2 or 0.0039 sq mi, Brewis Island 0.05 km2 or
0.019 sq mi, and a few unnamed islets.
History
In 1975, the Government of Australia enacted the Great
Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975, which created the Great Barrier Reef Marine
Park Authority, and defined what acts were prohibited on the Reef. The
Australian Government also has recognised the ecological significance of this
Park by its inclusion in the nation's Biodiversity Action Plan.[3] The
Government of Australia manages the reef through the Great Barrier Reef Marine
Park Authority and in partnership with the Government of Queensland, to ensure
that it is widely understood and used in a sustainable manner. A combination of
zoning, management plans, permits, education and incentives (such as
eco-tourism certification) are used in the effort to conserve the Great Barrier
Reef.
As many species of the Great Barrier Reef are migratory,
many international, national, and interstate conventions or pieces of
legislation must be taken into account when strategies for conservation are
made.[4]
Some international conventions that the Great Barrier Reef
Marine Park must follow are: the Bonn Convention, Ramsar Site (for the Bowling
Green Bay National Park site), CITES, JAMBA and CAMBA. Some national
legislation that the Park must follow are: Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act
1975, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, National
Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development, National Strategy for the
Conservation of Australia's Biological Diversity, Australia’s Oceans Policy,
National Strategy for the Conservation of Australian Species and Communities
Threatened with Extinction. Some state legislation that the Park must follow
are: Nature Conservation Act 1992, Marine Parks Act 1982, Fisheries Act 1994,
Queensland Nature Conservation (Wildlife) Regulation 1994.
For example, the Queensland Government has enacted several
plans attempting to regulate fishing. The East Coast Trawl Management Plan 1999
aimed to regulate trawling through limiting the times when trawling is
permitted and restricting gear used.[5] The Fisheries (Coral Reef Fin Fish
Fishery) Management Plan 2003 aimed at reducing the annual commercial catch to
1996 levels, disallowing fishing when the fish are spawning and increasing the
minimum legal size of fish.
The Great Barrier Reef was selected as a World Heritage Site
in 1981.[7] Up until 1999, there were four main zones in the Great Barrier Reef
Marine Park. They were the "Far Northern", "Cairns",
"Central" and "Mackay/Capricorn" sections. These zoning
sections were created between 1983–1987. Another section, the "Gumoo
Woojabuddee" section was declared in 1998. Each section had its own zoning
plan. The Great Barrier Marine Park Zoning Plan 2003 superseded all previous
zoning plans, coming into effect on 1 July 2004.
In July 2004, a new zoning plan was brought into effect for
the entire Marine Park, and has been widely acclaimed as a new global benchmark
for the conservation of marine ecosystems.[9] The rezoning was based on the
application of systematic conservation planning techniques, using the MARXAN
software.[10] On 1 July 2004 the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park became the
largest protected sea area in the world when the Australian Government
increased the areas protected from extractive activities (such as fishing) from
4.6% to 33.3% of the park.[11] As of 2006, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
National Monument is the largest protected marine area in the world. The
management committee draws inspiration from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
Authority's management strategies.[12]
The current method of zoning is called the
"Representative Areas Program", which chooses "typical"
areas of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. They can then be protected in
"Green Zones" (no-take zones).[13] The Great Barrier Reef World
Heritage Area has been divided into 70 bioregions,[14] of which 30 are reef
bioregions,[15] and 40 are non-reef bioregions.[16]
In 2006, a review was undertaken of the Great Barrier Reef
Marine Park Act 1975. Some recommendations of the review are that there should
be no further zoning plan changes until 2013, and that every five years, a
peer-reviewed Outlook Report should be published, examining the health of the
Great Barrier Reef, the management of the Reef, and environmental
pressures.[17][18]
In early 2007, the GBRMPA was one of three nominees for the
Destination Award in the World Travel and Tourism Council’s Tourism for
Tomorrow Awards.[19]
On 3 April 2010, The Shen Neng 1, a Chinese ship carrying
950 tonnes of oil, ran aground, causing the 2010 Great Barrier Reef oil spill.
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