An introduction to the Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef in comparison
The Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA) is one of the most spectacular natural wonders on the planet. It is by far the world’s largest World Heritage Area, stretching for 2000km along the coast of Queensland and covering 347,800km2, an area just over half the size of the State of Texas in the United States or an area larger that that of the United Kingdom, Holland and Switzerland combined. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system that has ever existed on Earth and is home to many thousands of species of plants and animals, many of which have yet to be properly named and identified.
The Great Barrier Reef is not a single reef but an interconnected network of over 2900 individual reefs and 900 coral cays and islands. The sheer size of the Great Barrier Reef has resulted in a remarkable diversity of habitats and plant and animal life. Habitats and species found at the southern end of the GBRWHA can be very different from those found in the northern regions 2000 km away, and habitats and animal close to the coast are markedly different from those offshore.
More than a coral reef
The many different habitats are all fundamental elements of the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem. Coral reefs comprise only 6% of the geographical area of the GBRWHA, the inter-reefal habitats (habitats between the individual coral reefs) comprise 25% of the area while the GBR lagoon (the area between the reefs and the coast) makes up 33% of the area. The remaining 36% of the area is the continental slope that extends past the outer coral reefs down into deep water off the continental shelf.
The GBRMPA Representative Areas Program has identified over 70 distinct bioregions in the GBRWHA, each of which have distinct biological and geophysical traits. This has illustrated the high level of biodiversity in the region which is one of the reasons why the Great Barrier Reef was listed as World Heritage Area. Examples of this outstanding biodiversity include:
- 1500 species of fish;
- 360 species of hard corals;
- One-third of the world's soft coral species;
- 4000 species of molluscs (eg. shells);
- 1500 species of sponge;
- 800 species of echinoderms (starfish, urchins etc);
- 500 species of seaweed;
- 23 species of marine mammals; and
- 6 species of marine turtles
Many of these species are endemic to the Great Barrier Reef, and there are many thousands of species that have yet to be properly identified.
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| Map showing the variety and distribution of different bioregions within the GBRWHA |
The Great Barrier Reef as a World Heritage Area
In recognition of its outstanding universal value, the Great Barrier Reef was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 1981 under all four world heritage criteria for natural heritage:
- being an outstanding example representing major stage of the earth’s evolutionary history;
- being an outstanding example representing significant ongoing geological processes, biological evolution and man’s interaction with his natural environment;
- containing unique, rare and superlative natural phenomena, formations and features and areas of exceptional natural beauty; and
- providing habitats where populations of rare and endangered species of plants and animals still survive.
More information about the Great Barrier Reef and its World Heritage Values can be found at the following sites:
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
The Great Barrier Reef was declared a Marine Park in 1975, 6 years prior to it’s World Heritage listing. Nevertheless, 99.3% of the GBRWHA lies within the boundaries of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP). The 0.7% of the World Heritage Area that is outside the Marine Park includes:
- most islands (~ 50% of which are Queensland National Parks)
- internal waters of the State of Queensland (e.g. many deep bays or narrow inlets)
- small coastal exclusions areas around ports or major centres (e.g. Cairns)
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) is the lead agency responsible for the protection and wise use of the GBRMP. However, management of the GBRMP involves close collaboration between the GBRMPA and Queensland State Government agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.
Find out more about the Great Barrier Reef
To find out more about the condition of the Great Barrier Reef and it’s ecosystems, the human and natural pressures affecting them and the management or the Reef, visit the updated State of the Great Barrier Reef On-line.
More information on the management of the Great Barrier Reef can be found at the following sites:
More information about the animals, plants and habitats of the Great Barrier Reef can be found at the following sites:
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