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Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority :: Obligations to rare and Threatened Species

Obligations to rare and Threatened Species

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s (GBRMPA) goal is ‘To provide for the protection, wise use, understanding and enjoyment of the Great Barrier Reef in perpetuity through the care and development of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park’. Under the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975, (the Act) zoning plans are a primary tool for managing the GBRMP. In preparing zoning plans, the GBRMPA is required under s.32 (7) to have regard, among other things, to the ‘conservation of the Great Barrier Reef’. Plans of Management may be regarded as a more specific management requirement for specific areas, and under s.39Y (b) of the Act, one object of Plans of Management is, ‘to ensure management for the recovery and continued protection and conservation of species and ecological communities that are, or may become: extinct; or extinct in the wild; or critically endangered; or endangered; or vulnerable; or conservation dependent’.

Another Marine Park management tool is the requirement that permission be acquired from the GBRMPA prior to the undertaking of certain activities, particularly commercial use. In considering applications for relevant permissions, the GBRMPA must have regard under s.74 (5) of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Regulations 1983 to, among other things, ‘the conservation of the natural resources of the Marine Park;’ and under s.74 (6) in relation to the traditional use of marine resources involving the taking of animals, plants or marine products, ‘the need for conservation of protected species and, in particular, the capability of the relevant population of that species to sustain harvesting’. For a list of protected species, see regulation 29.

In addition to the legislative requirements, a 5-year objective under the 25 Year Strategic Plan for the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area: 1994-2019 (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority 1994) is ‘to pay special attention to conserving rare and endangered species’. Broad strategies are recommended that involve the identification of threatened species and human related threats to their survival, and the development and implementation of appropriate coordinated management actions. Logically, perhaps, the identification of species and human related threats would be expected to precede management actions for their conservation. However, for marine species this is not so easy. Although much is known about some large vertebrate species (e.g. cetaceans, dugongs, marine turtles), there have been few descriptive studies of inter-reef and lagoonal benthic communities of the Great Barrier Reef. As such, there is little information about the status and population trends of species in those areas (Wachenfeld 1998).

Following is a list of key species conservation instruments that the GBRMPA must consider in determining its response to species conservation issues. This list is not exhaustive but rather gives a context for some of the GBRMPA’s obligations to various conventions, agreements and pieces of legislation.

International

Species occurring in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA) and listed on the Bonn Convention are in Table 1.

Species occurring in the GBRWHA and listed under CITES are in Table 1.

The following RAMSAR listed wetlands occur in the GBRWHA:

  • Bowling Green Bay
  • Shoalwater and Corio Bays Area

In addition:

  • Agreements between the Government of Australia and the Governments of Japan and China for the Protection of Migratory Birds and Birds in Danger of Extinction and their Environment: JAMBA and CAMBA

Table 2 lists birds occurring in the GBRWHA that are included on the agreements.

An important function of IUCN is to compile lists of internationally threatened species in the Red Data Book. Table 3 lists Great Barrier Reef species occurring in the GBRWHA that are included in the Red Data Book.

National

The GBRMPA also must have regard to Australia's:

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975 enabled the establishment and functioning of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP).

The GBRMPA's Goal is:

To provide for the protection, wise use, understanding and enjoyment of the Great Barrier Reef in perpetuity through the care and development of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

The Aims of the GBRMPA include protecting the natural qualities of the Great Barrier Reef while providing for reasonable use of the Reef Region, and minimising regulation of, and interference in, human activities consistent with meeting the Goal and other Aims of the GBRMPA.

TheAct provides for the protection of the Great Barrier Reef through zoning, issuing of permits, and implementation of Plans of Management that collectively enable management of human activities. The Act establishes a requirement for proponents of a range of activities to first obtain a permit to operate in the GBRMP. Under Regulations, the GBRMPA must not grant a permit to enter, use or carry on an activity in the GBRMP unless an assessment has been made of the impact that entry, use or activity is likely to have on the Marine Park, including animals such as threatened or rare species. Zoning also defines permissible activities in the GBRMP.

In addition, section 39Y of the Act states that when developing Plans of Management, threatened species should be managed for their ‘recovery and continued protection and conservation’. Similarly, in considering the issue of traditional use of marine resources the GBRMPA is required under the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Regulations 1983, to have regard to the conservation of protected species.

Under the Act, the GBRMPA must have regard to the protection of World Heritage values of the GBRMP and to the precautionary principle in preparing Plans of Management. The ‘precautionary principle’ is defined in the GBRMP Act by the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment 1992, which states that in the application of the precautionary principle, public and private decisions should be guided by:

  1. careful evaluation to avoid, wherever practicable, serious or irreversible damage to the environment; and,
  2. an assessment of the risk-weighted consequences of various options.

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

An object of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) is ‘to provide for the protection of the environment, especially those aspects of the environment that are matters of national environmental significance’. The act identifies six matters of national environmental significance: World Heritage properties; Ramsar wetlands of international significance; nationally listed threatened species and ecological communities; listed migratory species; Commonwealth marine areas and nuclear actions (including uranium mining). Another object of the Act is to ‘promote the conservation of biodiversity’. Species listed as threatened under the EPBC Act and found in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA) are listed in Table 3.

Species that are nationally listed as threatened species or are listed under certain Conventions protecting migratory species (including the Bonn Convention) receive additional protection under the corresponding provisions of the EPBC Act. Further, within ten years of the commencement of the EPBC Act on 16 July 2000, inventories must be prepared that identify and state the abundance of these species in Commonwealth marine areas.

The EPBC Act provides a framework for the protection of species listed as endangered and vulnerable, and ecological communities listed as endangered. The EPBC Act provides for the preparation of recovery or conservation plans for all scheduled species and ecological communities. Recovery plans must specify research and management actions necessary to stop the decline of, and support the recovery of, the species or community so that its chances of long-term survival in nature are maximised. As a Commonwealth agency, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) must not take any action that contravenes a recovery plan or a threat abatement plan. The EPBC Act also establishes a number of offences relating to, for example, killing, injuring, or taking listed threatened, migratory or marine species and cetaceans, and provides for issuing permits for these species.

The EPBC Act also allows for the identification of key threatening processes. A process is defined as a key threatening process if it threatens or may threaten the survival, abundance or evolutionary development of a native species or ecological community. Key threatening processes that are currently listed and which impact on threatened species in the GBRWHA include:

The following threatening process has been nominated and is currently being assessed (December 2004):

The assessment of an activity as a key threatening process is the first step in addressing, under Commonwealth law, the impact of a particular threat. Once a threatening process is listed under the EPBC Act, a Threat Abatement Plan can be put into place if it is proven to be "a feasible, effective and efficient way" to abate the threatening process.

This Strategy sets out the framework for co-operative decision-making in government and the promotion of ecologically sustainable development throughout Australia. The Strategy, which was endorsed by Commonwealth and State Heads of Government in 1992, is also relevant to industry, business and community groups. The goal of the Strategy is 'development that improves the quality of life, both now and in the future, in a way that maintains the ecological processes on which life depends'.

This Strategy aims to bridge the gap between current activities and the effective identification, conservation and management of Australia’s biological diversity. The Strategy’s primary focus is Australia’s native biological diversity. The goal of the Strategy is ‘to protect biological diversity and maintain ecological processes and systems’.

This Australian Government Policy (1998) sets in place the framework for integrated and ecosystem-based planning and management for all of Australia's marine jurisdictions. It includes a vision, a series of goals and principles, and policy guidance for a national Oceans Policy. Building on existing effective sectoral and jurisdictional mechanisms, it promotes ecologically sustainable development of the resources of our oceans and the encouragement of internationally competitive marine industries, while ensuring the protection of marine biological diversity.

  • National Strategy for the Conservation of Australian Species and Communities Threatened with Extinction

The overall aim of this 1992 Strategy, is ‘to ensure that endangered and vulnerable species and ecological communities can survive and flourish, and retain their genetic diversity and potential for evolutionary development in their natural habitats, and to prevent further species and ecological communities from becoming endangered.’ While the primary focus is on species, attention also needs to be directed to the conservation of subspecies or distinct populations that may be endangered although the species itself may be secure. Maintenance of sub-species and distinct populations is essential if the range of genetic diversity within a species is to be retained.

Queensland

The principal Queensland legislation relating to marine and island wildlife conservation and management are the Nature Conservation Act 1992, the Marine Parks Act 1982 and the Fisheries Act 1994 and associated regulations. Under the Queensland Nature Conservation (Wildlife) Regulation 1994, the Queensland Government’s proposed management intent for threatened wildlife is:

For those species listed as endangered, vulnerable or rare, the proposed management intent is:

  • to regularly monitor and review the wildlife’s conservation status and its habitat;
  • to establish formal communication with the Commonwealth and other State agencies about the management and conservation status of the wildlife;
  • to encourage scientific research and inventory programs likely to contribute to the understanding of the wildlife, its habitat and management requirements;
  • to monitor and review the adequacy of environmental impact assessment procedures to ensure that they take into account the need to accurately assess the extent of the impact on rare wildlife and develop effective mitigation measures; and
  • to recognise that the habitat of endangered, vulnerable or rare wildlife is likely to be a critical habitat or area of major interest.

Additional for endangered or vulnerable wildlife the proposed management intent is:

  • to establish a database of records and information about the wildlife;
  • to put into effect recovery plans or conservation plans for the wildlife and its habitat;
  • to seek funding to help achieve the objectives of recovery plans and conservation plans;
  • to take action to ensure viable populations of the wildlife in the wild are preserved or re-established;
  • to start education programs for the community and managers of public land on extinction processes and threatened species conservation and habitat.

Additional for rare wildlife the proposed management intent is:

  • to treat newly described plant species and vertebrate animals, or plant species or vertebrate animals reclassified as an identifiably different species, as rare wildlife until formal appraisal of its conservation status is complete;
  • to collate information about management requirements for the wildlife and its habitat; and
  • if a significant threatening process is affecting the wildlife, to treat the wildlife as endangered or vulnerable until it is included in Schedule 2 or 3.

Threatened species listed under this legislation and occurring in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA) are in Table 3.

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