Management Concern: High    

Adequacy of Information: Moderate

Summary extracts from Outlook Report 2009

• Beaches are an important part of the coastal zone, especially as nesting grounds for seabirds and marine turtles. They also have an important recreational role for visitors to the Great Barrier Reef.
  
• Beaches are highly dynamic habitats with natural cycles of erosion and accretion driven by winds, tides, waves and storms.  They are therefore sensitive to any changes in coastal water movement, including climate change impacts such as increased sea level and weather variability.
• In some areas, changes in coastal dynamics and reclaiming of marine areas have altered the beach habitats of the Great Barrier Reef.

What do we know?

Relevant pages from Outlook Online include:

• Beaches and tidal flats
  
• Coastal erosion
  
• Coastal processes
  
• Sea level rise
  
• Climate variations influence the shape of cays and islands on the Great Barrier Reef
• Vulnerability of coastal and estuarine habitats in the Great Barrier Reef to climate change

Existing policies and management actions

• Plans of Management
  
• State Coastal Management Plan 2002
  
• Coastal Ecosystem Management Position Paper
• Australian Government policy on climate change 
• Queensland Government climate change policies and strategies 
• Climate Change Action Plan 2007-2012

Future management requirements

• Draft Queensland Coastal Management Plan
  
• Biodiversity 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.

Related information

• Current Research and Monitoring