Background

The preparation of these guidelines arose from a National Seabird Workshop in November 1993. Following the Workshop, staff of the Biodiversity Group of the Department of the Environment and Heritage and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority submitted a joint proposal to prepare national guidelines to manage human visitation to seabird islands. A committee was then established to advise the Authority on managing the development of the Guidelines.

The result is a very useful document which will assist in framing policy proposals and regulations for the management of human visitation to seabird islands wherever they occur in Australian waters.

The Guidelines fulfil an urgent need for summarised information about seabirds, their reactions to human visitors and strategies to minimise risks associated with the visitors.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is pleased to publish the Guidelines on the World Wide Web and make them available for general use.

Guidelines for Managing Visitation to Seabird Breeding Islands [370 kb]

Management Guidelines:

The guidelines provide a comprehensive framework for developing and implementing site-specific management measures to eliminate the negative effects of visitors on these sensitive birds. They include the information and guidance described below.

A background section contains information on the vulnerability of seabirds to disturbance, describing the mechanisms by which disturbance can cause breeding failure.

Information is provided on how to value seabird breeding aggregations. Before island management agencies can allocate resources to seabird breeding island management, they need to determine priorities, as resources are usually limited. This section helps managers to decide which breeding aggregations are of highest value. Some of the criteria mentioned for determining relative value include the presence of rare or threatened species, the size of the breeding population compared with other populations in the region and the extent to which the aggregation provides opportunities for ecotourism and environmental education.

A chapter is included covering the impacts of a range of human activities on breeding seabirds and ways of mitigating these impacts. Activities covered include the effects of tourism and recreation, fishing, research, boating and aircraft, among others. Guidelines are provided for mitigating the specific impacts of these activities.

Another section enables island managers to identify management concerns related to the particular species of seabirds present and the type of island involved. Different species react differently to disturbance and a table is provided that enables managers to determine the vulnerability of particular species to disruption from human visitation. This section also contains information on basic breeding biology that influences the approach to management; for example, the number of eggs a species lays, whether it will re-lay after loosing eggs, where it breeds and its vulnerability to disturbance.

The final chapter describes a range of techniques for implementing the guidelines, such as developing codes of conduct/practice, site hardening, island closure, signage, publicity, wardening, permits, monitoring, training and accreditation. The need for liaison with other agencies whose activities require island visitation is also discussed, including Bureau of Meteorology, Department of Transport, Department of Defence and Civil Aviation Authority.