The GBR covers approximately , square kilometres. The GBR Marine Park's legal jurisdiction ends at low water mark along the mainland with the exception of port areas and around islands with the exception of 70 Commonwealth managed islands which are part of the Marine Park.
In addition the GBR also includes over islands within the jurisdiction of Queensland, about half of which are declared as 'national parks', and the internal waters of Queensland that occur within the World Heritage boundary including a number of long-established port areas.
The World Heritage property is and has always been managed as a multiple-use area. Uses include a range of commercial and recreational activities. The management of such a large and iconic world heritage property is made more complex due to the overlapping State and Federal jurisdictions. Australia's responsibilities under the World Heritage Convention". This is contiguous with the GBR Marine Park and covers the area between low and high water marks and many of the waters within the jurisdictional limits of Queensland.
Queensland is also responsible for management of most of the islands. The overlapping jurisdictional arrangements mean that the importance of complementary legislation and complementary management of islands and the surrounding waters is well recognised by both governments. Strong cooperative partnerships and formal agreements exist between the Australian Government and the Queensland Government.
In addition, strong relationships have been built between governments and commercial and recreational industries, research institutions and universities. Collectively this provides a comprehensive management influence over a much wider context than just the marine areas and islands.
Development and land use activities in coastal and water catchments adjacent to the property also have a fundamental and critical influence on the values within the property. The Queensland Government is responsible for natural resource management and land use planning for the islands, coast and hinterland adjacent to the GBR. The Federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act EPBC Act provides an overarching mechanism for protecting the World Heritage values from inappropriate development, including actions taken inside or outside which could impact on its heritage values.
This requires any development proposals to undergo rigorous environmental impact assessment processes, often including public consultation, after which the Federal Minister may decide, to approve, reject or approve under conditions designed to mitigate any significant impacts. While the Zoning Plan is the 'cornerstone' of management and provides a spatial basis for determining where many activities can occur, zoning is only one of many spatial management tools and policies applied to collectively protect the GBR.
Some activities are better managed using other spatial and temporal management tools like Plans of Management, Special Management Areas, Agreements with Traditional Owners and permits often tied to specific zones or smaller areas within zones, but providing a detailed level of management not possible by zoning alone. These statutory instruments also protect the Outstanding Universal Value of the property. Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples undertake traditional use of marine resource activities to provide traditional food, practice their living maritime culture, and to educate younger generations about traditional and cultural rules and protocols.
These currently cover some 30 per cent of the GBR inshore area, and support Traditional Owners to maintain cultural connections with their sea country. Similarly non-statutory tools like site management and Industry Codes of Practice contribute to the protection of World Heritage values. Some spatial management tools are not permanently in place nor appear as part of the zoning, yet achieve effective protection for elements of biodiversity e.
The Outlook Report identified the long-term challenges facing the GBR; these are dominated by climate change over the next few decades. This report also identified continued declining water quality from land-based sources, loss of coastal habitats from coastal development, and some impacts from fishing, illegal fishing and poaching as the other priority issues requiring management attention for the long-term protection of the GBR.
Emerging issues since the Outlook Report include proposed port expansions, increases in shipping activity, coastal development and intensification and changes in land use within the GBR catchment; population growth; the impacts from marine debris; illegal activities; and extreme weather events including floods and cyclones.
More than million people worldwide depend on reefs for food, jobs and coastal defence. They help protect areas such as mangrove forests and seagrass beds that act as nurseries for marine animals, as well as human coastal populations. Extracts from animals and plants living on reefs have been used to develop treatments for asthma, arthritis, cancer and heart disease.
Explore the risks facing coral reefs. Global warming is killing the Great Barrier Reef — here's why that matters. Anna Sheffer Updated Apr 19, pm. FB Tweet More. All rights reserved. Close this dialog window View image Global warming is killing the Great Barrier Reef — here's why that matters. The Reef is highly vulnerable. In the past three decades, it has lost half its coral cover, pollution has caused deadly starfish outbreaks, and global warming has produced horrific coral bleaching.
Coastal development also looms as a major threat. Some of the Reef's inhabitants, such as turtles and crocodiles, have been around since prehistoric times and have changed little over the millennia. The Park itself extends south from the tip of north Queensland, in north-eastern Australia, to just north of Bundaberg. It ranges between 60 and kilometres in width and has an average depth of 35 metres in its inshore waters. On the outer reefs, continental slopes extend to depths of more than 2, metres.
Did you know, coral reefs are made of calcium carbonate? Tiny soft-bodied organisms called coral polyps help to form coral reefs. Coral bleaching Coral bleaching is the result of global warming caused by the mining and burning of fossil fuels like coal.
Global warming is heating our oceans, and if the water stays too hot for too long, corals bleach and die. It smothers corals and seagrass beds and denies them sunlight, drives crown of thorn starfish outbreaks, and makes coral more vulnerable to bleaching.
Nitrogen run-off from farms can also lead to algal blooms, which starfish larvae feed on, promoting population explosions. Governance Sadly, the scale and number of problems the Reef now faces have outgrown the capacity of the institutions and systems put in place a generation ago to protect it. The Reef needs a stronger champion to defend it from industrialisation , overfishing and a multitude of other threats. Industrialisation There are plans to expand several ports along the Great Barrier Reef coastline.
0コメント