Management Concern: Low     Adequacy of Information: Good

Summary extracts from Outlook Report 2009

• There are more than 500 species of corals, with localised declines in some hard corals and limited information about soft corals, sea pens and sea fans.
• Anchoring of tourism vessels has the potential to damage corals. Diving and snorkelling can cause localised damage to coral. There are now a range of mandatory and voluntary management arrangements that minimise the impact of commercial tourism operations in the Great Barrier Reef, such that the impacts associated with tourism activities are seen as minor.

What do we know? (relevant pages from Outlook Online)

• Global distribution of coral, mangrove and seagrass diversity
  
• Soft coral (octocoral) diversity
  
• e-ATLAS: Octocorals of the Great Barrier Reef
  
• Hard coral diversity on the Great Barrier Reef
  
• Hard coral richness in the Great Barrier Reef
  
• Soft coral richness in the Great Barrier Reef
  
• e-ATLAS: Patterns in hard coral diversity and cover on inshore reefs of the GBR
  
• e-ATLAS: Hard coral biodiversity surveys of the GBR 
  
• Marine tourism impacts on the Great Barrier Reef
• Impacts of tourism and recreational use on the Great Barrier Reef
• Effects on coral from SCUBA divers 
• Effectiveness of no anchoring areas

Existing policies and management actions

• Great Barrier Reef Marine Park legislation and regulations
  
• Plans of Management
  
• Permits
  
• Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Zoning Plan
  
• High standard tourism operations 
• Ecocertification of Marine Park operators
• Use of tourism permissions in the Marine Park
• 15 year permits 
• Visitation with the top 50 tourism operators versus total visitation
• Tourist visitation to directly managed sites
• Policies and guidelines for managing tourism and recreational use
• Site Management Arrangements   
• Responsible Reef Practices 
• Vessel sewage management  

Future management requirements

• Biodiversity strategy
• Overarching Great Barrier Reef Tourism Strategy

Defined research questions

• There are currently no defined research questions for this topic. Research questions will be developed, giving priority to interactions/issues that are of most concern to management.

Current Research and Monitoring