Management Concern: High    

Adequacy of Information: Moderate

Summary extracts from Outlook Report 2009

• About half of the islands are within protected areas; there is limited monitoring on the condition of most islands.
  
• Islands are sensitive to sea level rise, changes to ENSO, increasing air temperature, and changing rainfall patterns.
• There is 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.
• Most of the routine defence training activities carried out in the Great Barrier Reef have negligible impacts. Individual high impact activities are carefully managed and confined to specific localised areas, and limited to a few weeks per year.
• Impacts of scientific research are concentrated primarily around research stations.
• There have been few studies on the impacts of recreational use on the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem. The impacts of recreation (not including fishing) are mainly localised in inshore areas.
• Increasing coastal development is resulting in the loss of both coastal habitats that support the Great Barrier Reef and connectivity between habitats.
  

What do we know?

Relevant pages from Outlook Online include:

• Vulnerability of island flora and fauna of the Great Barrier Reef to climate change
  
• Climate variations influence the shape of cays and islands on the Great Barrier Reef
• Sea level rise
• Management arrangements for Raine Island restrict access to the island and surrounding waters
• Marine and intertidal cultural heritage sites in the Great Barrier Reef
• Marine tourism impacts on the Great Barrier Reef 
• Impacts of tourism and recreational use on the Great Barrier Reef
• Tourism impacts on seabirds 
• High standard tourism operations 
• Development intensification and water quality pressures on the Great Barrier Reef ecosystems

Existing policies and management actions

• Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Zoning Plan
  
• GBRMPA Environmental Impact Management Policy [900KB]
  
• Cairns Area Plan of Management
  
• Hinchinbrook Plan of Management
  
• Shoalwater Bay (Dugong) Plan of Management
  
• Whitsundays Plan of Management
  
• Site specific management - Raine Island, Moulter Cay and MacLennan Cay
  
• Managing Commonwealth Islands
• Coastal ecosystem protection
• State Coastal Management Plan 2002
  
• Australian Government policy on climate change 
• Queensland Government climate change policies and strategies 
• Climate Change Action Plan 2007-2012
• Managing Tourism Permissions to Operate in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (including Allocation, Latency & Tenure)
• Position Statement - Management of tourist flights in the vicinity of Magnetic Island [200KB]
• Position Statement on Management of Commercial Jet Ski Operations around Magnetic Island [89.6KB]
• Where does research happen?
• Research permits 
• Heritage Strategy
  

Future management requirements

• Draft Queensland Coastal Management Plan
  
• Biodiversity strategy
• Overarching Great Barrier Reef Tourism Strategy
• Great Barrier Reef Recreation Strategy
• Review of the Heritage Strategy
• Development of Heritage Management Plans
  

Defined research questions

• What long-term changes are likely to occur in island systems as a result of climate change?
  
• What alternative habitats exist for fauna living on threatened islands?
  

Related information

• Current Research and Monitoring