World heritage

The Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area is 348 000 km2 in area (an area bigger than the United Kingdom, Holland and Switzerland combined) and is the largest World Heritage Area in the world. It is listed for four natural criteria including:

• Exceptional natural beauty
• Significant geomorphic/physiographic features
• Significant ecological/biological processes
• Significant natural habitats for biological diversity.

Find out how we manage the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area

Heritage Strategy

The Heritage Strategy outlines actions for the identification, assessment and monitoring of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park's heritage values, the development of a heritage register and preparation of heritage management plans.

Find out more about the Heritage Strategy

Historic heritage

Includes places associated with the non-Indigenous cultural heritage of Australia encompassed in the country's history. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park historic heritage includes shipwrecks, lighthouses and places which embody a specific cultural or historic value (for example, Endeavour Reef where Captain Cook ran aground).

Historic places tell us about national and social developments in Australia over the past few centuries, technical and creative achievements, and provide a tangible link to past events, processes and people.

Find out more about the History of tourism
Find out more about Historic Shipwrecks and the Pandora and Yongala Shipwrecks

The Commonwealth Islands Heritage Strategy [ Acrobat Format 418KB]
The Historic Shipwrecks Strategy [ Acrobat Format 418KB]

Indigenous heritage

Indigenous fish trap

Includes all places that are part of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' spiritual links to the land and sea or which tell the stories of Indigenous peoples from time immemorial to the present.

It can include:

• Sea estates
• Fish traps
• Burial grounds
• Traditional cultural lifestyles
• Places of aesthetic value
• Important grounds for traditional use of marine resources and breeding grounds
• Sacred sites of significance
• Ceremony sites
• Totems
• Storylines and songlines
• Practice of cultural protocols in sea country
• Travel routes - ritual paths through land and sea country
  
• Place names/area names
• Native title rights and interests.
  

The Indigenous Heritage Strategy [ Acrobat Format 418KB]
ReefED website Traditional Owner information
Indigenous Partnerships Liaison Unit

Related Links