Which areas of the Great Barrier Reef are monitored?

The Marine Monitoring Program assesses the health of the Marine Park by measuring key ecosystem and water quality indicators at inshore Reef locations. Monitoring is undertaken along the length of the Great Barrier Reef in inshore areas within 20 kilometres of the coast adjacent to major catchments.

Cape York

The Cape York Peninsula Region covers an area of 137 000 km² from the Bloomfield River north to the tip of Cape York. The Region east of the Great Dividing Range is fringed by the waters of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Its natural environments are extremely diverse with dusty, desert landscapes, unexplored rainforests, rugged mountains and swampy marshlands. Pastoralism is the Region’s main land use. The Normanby River is one of the major rivers discharging to the Reef and is characterised by high flows, particularly during the wet season.

Wet Tropics

The Wet Tropics Region extends from the Bloomfield River in the north to Crystal Creek in the south and west to include the Atherton Tablelands. The region, some 22 000 km² in extent, includes most of the Wet Tropics of the Queensland World Heritage Area and parts of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.  The Region is a popular tourism destination and its major agricultural land uses include sugar, horticulture and grazing activities. The Wet Tropics Region is a unique area of Australia, and as its name suggests, has one of the highest annual rainfalls in the country. This rain falls mostly in the wet season, creating distinctive wet and dry seasons. Major catchments of the Wet Tropics include the Barron, Johnstone, Tully and Herbert River catchments. 

Burdekin

Located in the drier part of the tropics in Queensland's east coast, the Burdekin Region covers an area of about 133 400 km². The Region encompasses a diversity of landscapes including the wet tropical rainforests of Eungella and the Paluma Range, the drier sub-catchment areas to the Belyando and Burdekin Rivers and the very wet coastal plains of the lower Burdekin River. The Burdekin River is one of the largest catchments that flows into the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The Region has a diverse range of land uses including large areas devoted to agriculture, urban development, mining and industry.  Grazing is the largest landuse and sugar cane agriculture is concentrated in the lower coastal plain.

Mackay/Whitsunday

The Mackay Whitsunday Region is located in a narrow coastal strip along the central Queensland coast. The catchment region is about 10 785 km² and includes the catchments of the Pioneer-O'Connell and Proserpine River systems. The Region includes 250 km of coast with numerous beaches, coastal lagoons, 74 offshore islands and reefs. The major land use in the Region is agriculture, in particular grazing and sugar cane cropping. Agricultural production is the highest contributor to the regional economy, although tourism, fishing and aquaculture are also important industries. The Region is currently undergoing rapid urban expansion.

Fitzroy

Covering 156 000 km², the Fitzroy Region, which straddles the Tropic of Capricorn, encompasses more than one tenth of Queensland's land area. It includes the Fitzroy River Basin, the Calliope and Boyne catchments and adjacent coastal catchments.  The Fitzroy is the largest of all the catchments draining into the Great Barrier Reef lagoon. The Region contains diverse landscapes and distinctive rural and urban communities. Grazing is the most common land use, with some areas of dry land and irrigated cropping. Extensive coal mining operations are an important industry for the Region.

Burnett-Mary

The Burnett Mary Region, approximately 56 000 km² in extent, covers all lands drained by the Mary, Kolan, Burnett, Auburn, Boyne, Elliot, Gregory, Isis and Burrum rivers and tributaries. It encompasses the World Heritage listed Great Sandy Straits, including Fraser Island.  The Region contains the major urban areas of Bundaberg, Hervey Bay, Maryborough and Gympie. The two largest catchments are the Burnett River and the Mary River catchments. These catchments support large grazing, sugar cane and grain crops industries such as sorghum and wheat and to a lesser extent dairy, vine and tree crop and citrus industries.