Gumoo Woojabuddee Section

Background

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In January 1998 the Commonwealth Government declared the Gumoo Woojabuddee Section as an addition to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The new Section covers an area of 350 square kilometres. It includes the waters of Freshwater Bay and the Byfield coast from Delcomyn Island to just south of Corio Bay on the central Queensland coast. The waters of the Section extend from the low water mark along the coast and five kilometres out to sea.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is currently considering proposals for the zoning and management of the new Gumoo Woojabuddee Section. Any information provided on seagrass or mangrove habitats and beaches adjacent to the Section, but outside the jurisdiction of the Marine Park Authority, will be passed onto the Departments of Environment and Defence for their consideration. However, to facilitate public input, the entire area will be referred to as the zoning area.

Why Gumoo Woojabuddee?

The name 'Gumoo Woojabuddee' is derived from the Darumbal Aboriginal language and means 'Bigfulla Water'. The area forms part of the traditional country of the Darumbal Aboriginal people.

Why declare a marine park?

Port Clinton, Freshwater Bay and the waters of the Byfield coast were not included in the Mackay/Capricorn Section of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park or the Mackay/Capricorn State Marine Park when they were declared in the late 1980s.

In 1994 the importance of these waters to the conservation of the natural and cultural heritage values of the region was highlighted in submissions and research reports associated with the Commonwealth Commission of Inquiry into the future use of Shoalwater Bay. The Inquiry recommended that 'the marine parts of the Area (which includes the Gumoo Woojabuddee Section and the adjacent areas) should all be incorporated into marine parks and management responsibility should be shared between the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the Queensland Department of the Environment and Heritage according to existing agreements between those agencies'.

Marine park management

A marine park is a multiple-use marine area with special features that require protection. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park which was established under Commonwealth legislation is managed cooperatively by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the Queensland Department of the Environment and Heritage.

One of the key tools for managing activities in marine parks is called a zoning plan.

Click here for more information on the steps involved in the planning process and the values being considered in the draft Zoning Plan for the Gumoo Woojabuddee Section of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

Download more information

If you would like more information on the values of the Gumoo Woojabuddee Section and adjacent areas, a number of status reports can be downloaded for the key issues relating to the zoning area. In order to read or print these documents you will need to obtain Acrobat Reader.