Technical Information Sheet #15

Published 2002

This page contains background and history of the Representative Areas Program.

• View current Zoning information.

Draft Zoning Plan for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

The Representative Areas Program (RAP) is being implemented through the rezoning of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (Marine Park). RAP is being undertaken because the current zoning does not adequately protect the range of biodiversity now known to exist across the Marine Park.

The RAP aims to protect ‘representative’ examples of the entire range of habitats, plants and animals in the Marine Park while minimising impacts on existing uses.  By ensuring the future of the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) seeks to maintain lifestyles, ensure economic prosperity and continue to allow equitable access to the natural resources of the Marine Park in perpetuity. RAP will help protect the immense variety of biodiversity in the Marine Park for the benefit of all.

Zoning Plans - Who can do what, and where can they do it?

The Marine Park is a multiple-use marine park, where reasonable levels of use are allowed. One of the most complex jobs faced by the GBRMPA is the process of deciding just who may do what, and where they may do it.

One of the primary tools for protecting and preserving the Great Barrier Reef, as specified by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975, is zoning. Zoning separates activities that may conflict with each other, such as commercial fishing and tourism. Zoning also allows areas that need conservation to be protected from potentially threatening processes by being placed ‘off limits’ to some kinds of uses.  Zoning can be reviewed from time to time.

Marine Park zoning plans are not dissimilar to planning schemes prepared for local government areas. For example, zoning plans provide for activities that are as-of-right, with permission or prohibited. “As-of-right” means the activity is allowed without requiring a permit.  “With permission” means a permit must be sought and approved before the activity can occur.  “Prohibited” means the activity is not allowed with or without a permit. Each zone category specifies which activities can or cannot be undertaken within its boundaries and whether or not permission is required to undertake those activities.

Zoning sets the foundation for protecting the Great Barrier Reef and managing use.   Accordingly, zoning plans apply to both commercial and recreational users of the Marine Park. Other management tools complement Zoning Plans.

The principle objectives of any zoning plan (s. 32(7) of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act) are:

• the conservation of the Great Barrier Reef;
• the regulation of the use of the Marine Park so as to protect the Great Barrier Reef while allowing reasonable use of the Great Barrier Reef Region;
• the regulation of activities that exploit the resources of the Great Barrier Reef Region so as to minimise the effect of those activities on the Great Barrier Reef;
• the reservation of some areas of the Great Barrier Reef for its appreciation and enjoyment by the public; and
• the preservation of some areas of the Great Barrier Reef in its natural state undisturbed by man except for the purposes of scientific research.

Reviewing current Zoning Plans

There are currently five Zoning Plans in place within the Marine Park:

• Central Section (in operation since October 1987)
• Mackay/Capricorn Section (in operation since August 1988)
• Cairns Section (in operation since April 1992)
• Far Northern Section (in operation since April 2002)
• Gumoo Woojabuddee Section (in operation since December 2002)

Given that the current zoning plans have been progressively developed over the last 15 years, some of the terms, management provisions and zone names differ slightly between various Sections.   This current rezoning process has developed a single Zoning Plan for the Marine Park and has removed inconsistencies between the five Sections. 

The Draft Zoning Plan

Zoning Plans are the primary planning instrument for the conservation and management of the Marine Park.   The Draft Zoning Plan takes into account the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage values and the principles of ecologically sustainable development. In conjunction with other management mechanisms, the Draft Zoning Plan protects and conserves the biodiversity of the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem through establishment of an adequate network of  ‘no-take zones’, while providing opportunities for the ecologically sustainable use of, and access to, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park by current and future generations.

In addition to protecting ‘representative’ examples of the entire range of habitats, the Draft Zoning Plan also provides for the protection of other areas of high conservation value by assigning protective zoning to other important habitats, breeding and spawning areas as well as other special or unique sites.

The Draft Zoning Plan   divides the Marine Park into eight zones and sets out the purposes for which each zone may be used or entered, either “as-of-right” or with permission (See Activities guide).

For each zone, the Draft Zoning Plan sets out the purposes for which the zone may be used or entered without permission, and the purposes for which the zone may be used or entered only with the written permission of the Authority. The General Use Zone provides for the widest range of activities, while the Preservation Zone is the most restricted.   The Commonwealth Islands Zone provides for the use or entry of areas of the Marine Park above mean low water on Commonwealth Islands (the Marine Park does not include areas that form a part of Queensland).

The Zoning Plan also provides for the management of remote natural areas of the Marine Park, and the designation of shipping and special management areas that may be applied to address management objectives in particular areas, as well as additional purposes for which zones may be used or entered. 

Many of the provisions of previous zoning plans have been revised and simplified in this Draft Zoning Plan. The Draft Zoning Plan also provides for the description of zone boundaries though a process of coordinate-based mapping.   It is envisaged that in addition to the conservation benefits, these changes will provide for a simpler, more consistent, and user-friendly, basis for the management of activities within the Marine Park.

The Draft Zoning Plan applies to all Sections.   For clarity, and to facilitate coordinate based zoning, the Sections will be amalgamated to form the ‘Amalgamated Great Barrier Reef Section’ (the AGBR Section). For administrative purposes, the AGBR Section will be divided into four management areas:

• the Far Northern Management Area;
• the Cairns/Cooktown Management Area;
• the Townsville/Whitsundays Management Area; and
• the Mackay/Capricorn Management Area.

Although these areas have no legislative effect, they approximate the areas of the previous four main Sections and provide a basis for the regional management of the Marine Park. Further sub-areas or regions may also be identified for particular management purposes.

The process for rezoning the Marine Park

The process for development of the Draft Zoning Plan is set out in Sections 32 and 33 of the Act and is illustrated in the following diagram.

A notice of intent to prepare a Draft Zoning Plan for the Great Barrier Reef was issued on 7 May 2002 and the public was invited to provide input until 7 August 2002. The original proposal covered the four main sections of the Marine Park (the Far Northern, Cairns, Central and Mackay/Capricorn Sections) and the 28 new coastal sections. The Gumoo Woojabuddee Section Zoning Plan had not been finalised as at May 2002 and a subsequent public notice was issued on 10 January 2003 to provide that the area of the proposed Zoning Plan would be extended to include the Gumoo Woojabuddee Section.

Submissions on the proposal to develop a Draft Zoning Plan for the Marine Park attracted 10,190   public submissions. The GBRMPA has used this information in addition with available natural resource, social, economic and cultural information to develop the Draft Zoning Plan.

The Draft Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Zoning Plan 2003 was released on 2 June 2003 and the community has been invited to make comments on the Draft Zoning Plan by close of business on Monday 4 August 2003. 

Following an analysis of any submissions received the Draft Zoning Plan will be revised, as necessary, by the Authority and submitted to the Minster for Environment and Heritage for tabling in both Houses of Federal Parliament.

Regulations

In its final form the Zoning Plan will need to be supported by a series of Regulations to give effect to aspects of the zoning plan and to provide for the definition of some terms used in the zoning plan. These Regulations will be made under section 66 of the GBRMP Act as an amendment to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Regulations 1983.

It is expected that the Regulations will provide for a range of matters, including:

• Definitions of some terms used in the zoning plan (eg ships);
• Limitations on the conduct of certain activities (eg restrictions on the use of certain vessels or fishing activities in a zone or a part of a zone).
• The special management provisions and process for designation of designated areas; and
• Continue to describe the process for obtaining any permissions required for the use or entry of zones.