Coastal Ecosystem Protection

Trinity Inlet � Cairns (Queensland)

Coastal areas play an important role in the broader ecosystem of the Great Barrier Reef. Estuaries, wetlands, mangroves, sand dunes and other habitats provide important linkages between land, freshwater and marine environments, as well as feeding and breeding grounds for many marine species.

The Outlook Report identifies that the development of coastal areas has, in some cases, resulted in a serious decline in the extent and condition of key coastal habitats. This may increase into the future with the projected growth in population and economic activity in North Queensland. Rising sea levels associated with climate change also present a key future pressure on coastal habitats.

Whilst primary responsibility for land and water management practices adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (the Marine Park) and Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA) rests with Queensland and Local Government agencies, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) responds to these pressures in a number of ways.

Advice on development proposals

The level of assessment for different types and scales of development varies. The GBRMPA provides advice on the potential impacts of many of these proposed developments and makes recommendations to minimise those impacts.

Under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, activities likely to have a significant impact on a matter of �national environmental significance� require the approval of the Commonwealth Environment Minister. Protected matters of national environmental significance include the World Heritage values of the GBRWHA, and from November 2009, the environment of the Marine Park. The GBRMPA provides advice within the portfolio.

Under the Queensland and Local Government processes the GBRMPA sometimes provide advice on specific proposals. Advice is confined to major projects prepared under the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971 administered by the Department of Infrastructure and Planning or for certain activities under the Environmental Protection Act 1994.

More often than providing individual development advice the GBRMPA participates in forums that seek to apply strategic assessment in relation to key coastal areas adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef. This includes state, regional and local planning processes that set the policy framework within which decisions on specific impact assessment processes are undertaken that do not necessarily trigger the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Strategic assessments have the potential to better deal with the cumulative impacts of incremental development than case-by-case assessment and approval.

Reef Guardian Councils

Local Government has decision-making power on many aspects of how coastal development might proceed. The role councils can play in protecting the Great Barrier Reef underpins a Reef Guardian Council Program that has been developed to support and encourage environmental outcomes for the Great Barrier Reef. The program recognises what councils can do under five categories of best practice: waste, water, land management, climate change and community involvement. Working with developers on choosing environmentally friendly options for proposals and for management of construction to reduce impacts on vulnerable coastal ecosystems and water quality is an opportunity encouraged under the program.

Policy position on coastal ecosystem management

The protection of particular coastal ecosystems and their ecological function in catchments adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef will enhance the resilience of the marine system. However, the consequences to the marine environment of loss and degradation of coastal ecosystems are not well understood. In 2010 the GBRMPA plans to research and workshop the coastal catchment ecosystem types and roles, with a desired outcome of developing clear policy statements for each of the types, and a risk assessment element to guide future decisions about management.