In 2001, the GBRMPA defined the major land uses with respect to the long-term management and protection of the Great Barrier Reef:

The coastal region adjoining the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area is divided into a number of wet and dry tropical catchments, with forty drainage basins comprising approximately 25 per cent of the land area of Queensland draining directly into the Great Barrier Reef lagoon (Gilbert 2001).

Most catchments are small (<10,000 km²), however the Burdekin (133,000 km²) and Fitzroy River catchments (143,000 km²) are among the largest in Australia.

Human activity in these catchments is the primary determinant of altered water quality that is ultimately transmitted to the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. 

Although population growth and urban expansion in south-eastern Queensland has been rapid, the northern Queensland coast still remains relatively sparsely populated (Anon 1999b). Only 700 000 of the State’s 2.9 million residents live in the coastal areas adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. Despite this low population pressure, extensive land modification (land clearing) has occurred over the last 200 years since European settlement (Anon 1993).

Today, 80 per cent of the land area of catchments adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area support some form of agricultural production (Gilbert 2001). 

To place Queensland land use and vegetation clearing activities into perspective, more than 50 per cent of the State’s original 117 million hectares of woody vegetation has been cleared primarily for agricultural purposes since European settlement (Anon 1999b).

As a consequence, erosion is increased and runoff resulting from these agricultural activities and urban development, is the primary anthropogenic influence on water quality in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (Bell 1991; Moss et al. 1993; Anon 1993; Brodie 1997).

Grazing of cattle for beef production is the largest single land use on the Great Barrier Reef catchment with cropping (mainly of sugarcane), being a significant agricultural industry in coastal areas between Bundaberg and Port Douglas.

Other significant catchment land uses include aquaculture and mining of coal and various metals.

There are approximately 4 500 000 beef cattle grazed in Great Barrier Reef catchments, with highest stock numbers in the Fitzroy and Burdekin catchments (Table 1).

The area under sugarcane cultivation in Great Barrier Reef catchments has increased steadily over the last 100 years reaching approximately 400 000 ha by 2000 (Figure 2).

There are thirty-three existing prawn and barramundi aquaculture developments adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, ten of which are currently expanding or have plans for future expansion.

There are a further six aquaculture proposals, and three operations which have been approved but have either not commenced or are incomplete. Farms range in size from 2 ha to 127 ha with a total of approximately 400 to 450 ha in production (Lobegeiger 1998).

  

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Citation and/or URL

Haynes, D. 2001, Great Barrier Reef water quality: current issues. Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Townsville, Australia

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Spatial Coverage

Great Barrier Reef catchment 

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Temporal Coverage

 Not applicable

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Update Frequency

 Not applicable 

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Other Information

 None