Management Concern: Low 

Adequacy of Information: Good

Summary extracts from Outlook Report 2009

• Coral reef habitats are likely to be declining, more so in inshore areas, but the trends are difficult to interpret.
• Marine tourism extends throughout the Great Barrier Reef but its impacts are concentrated in a few intensively managed areas.

What do we know?

Relevant pages from Outlook Online include:

• Confronting the coral reef crisis
  
• Australian Institute of Marine Science - surveys of sessile benthic communities
  
• Coral cover estimates during broadscale surveys using manta tow
  
• Trend in Great Barrier Reef hard coral cover from the AIMS Long-term Monitoring Program
  
• Reef Water Quality Protection Plan Inshore Reef Monitoring: hard coral, soft coral and algal cover
  
• Status of coral reefs of the world 2008
  
• Marine tourism impacts on the Great Barrier Reef 
• Impacts of tourism and recreational use on the Great Barrier Reef
• Impacts of pontoons on the Great Barrier Reef
• Moorings 
• Effects on coral from SCUBA divers 
• Impacts of fish feeding at tourist pontoons
• Effectiveness of no anchoring areas
  

Existing policies and management actions

• Marine Park legislation and regulations
  
• Guidelines for the Management of Artificial Reefs in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
  
• Regional Plans of Management, including Reef Protection Markers and moorings
  
• Permit conditions for specific activities
  
• 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 
  
• Tourism, recreation and community engagement
• Communicating with tourism and recreation stakeholders
• International recognition of tourism management achievements

Future management requirements

• Biodiversity strategy
• Overarching Great Barrier Reef Tourism Strategy
• Great Barrier Reef Recreation 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