The Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area contains vulnerable species and ecosystems and the Field Management Program has a support role in protecting the marine environment.

This includes undertaking island health monitoring, coral bleaching assessments and whale disentanglements. Staff also help with assessing damage to the marine environment following shipping and pollution incidents.

The Program's Field Operations Unit is specifically responsible for the coordination of monitoring programs, which measure the condition of natural values and evaluate the effectiveness of management. Current monitoring programs include:

• Reef Health and Impact Survey Program - evaluates the health of coral reefs and the effectiveness of management actions
• Coastal Bird Monitoring Strategy - conserves coastal bird populations in the World Heritage Area, whilst maintaining sustainable uses 
• Marine Wildlife Stranding Program - primary source of knowledge about human-related mortality affecting marine mammals and turtles in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

Climate change is the greatest threat that confronts the Great Barrier Reef. The Field Management Program helps identify critical sites that will need to be specially managed to reduce the potential impacts of climate change. Actions taken are aimed at protecting coral reefs, so they can better adapt to climate change.