Management
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is a Commonwealth government statutory authority, and is responsible for the management of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park under the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority operates in partnership with other Commonwealth and Queensland government agencies to ensure that the world heritage values of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area are preserved and protected for future generations.
Governance and Legislation
Commonwealth Regime
The vast majority of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area is managed through the provisions of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975 , the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Regulations 1983, GBR Section Zoning Plans and most recently, Plans of Management for specific areas of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The Act, Regulations and other regulatory tools have evolved over the last 25 years to incorporate the world's best environmental practices into management of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
Whilst primary responsibility for land and water management practices adjacent the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area remain with the Queensland Government, the Australian Government seeks to ensure the values of environmentally sustainable development are implemented. The Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 provides for assessment and approval of developments that may have a significant impact on the values of the Great Barrier Reef World
Heritage Area. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority has also developed Regulations for other matters, including the Great Barrier Reef Region (Prohibition of Mining) Regulations 1999 prohibiting of mining in the Great Barrier Reef Region.
Queensland Regime
Queensland has approached the management of water quality with regard to point source and non-point source pollution primarily through regulation, planning and assessment instruments.
Generally agriculture is not considered an environmentally relevant activity within the Queensland regulatory process. As a result, most of the mechanisms available for regulating pollution do not apply to agricultural activity or development. One important instrument is the Queensland Environmental Protection Act 1994 administered by the Environmental Protection Agency. Point source pollution is addressed through the assessment of ‘environmentally relevant activities’ under the Queensland Environmental Protection Act 1994. The Queensland Environmental Protection Act 1994 places a ‘duty of care’ on people not to undertake activities that will cause environmental harm. There are also specific regulations that address the management of resources, for example the Environmental Protection (Water) Policy 1997. This regulation provides for the management of local government wastewater and storm water discharges and the setting of environmental values and water quality objectives for specific water resources consistent with Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality. The Queensland Environmental Protection Act 1994 also provides for the preparation of industry ‘codes of practice’ to address industry-wide voluntary (and potentially statutory) environment protection mechanisms. Controls over pollution emanating from agricultural industries are not included in the Queensland Environmental Protection Act 1994 except in the context of intensive animal husbandry (e.g. aquaculture).
Management of water resources is administered by the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines under the Water Act 2000. The Water Act 2000 allows for the preparation of Water Resource Plans that provide capacity to protect and/or provide for environmental flows to natural watercourses following dam or weir construction. The Water Act 2000 does not specifically address downstream water quality impacts of expanded water allocation and associated developments.
Other potentially important State legislation which can influence activities and potentially enhance protection of the values of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area include the Nature Conservation Act 1992, the Marine Parks Act 1982, the Coastal Protection and Management Act 1995, the Fisheries Act 1994, the Fisheries Regulations 1995, the River Improvement Trust Act 1940, the Vegetation Management Act 1999, the Land Act 1994, the Integrated Planning Act 1997 and the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971.
State and Regional planning processes set the State-wide policy framework within which decisions on specific impact assessment processes are undertaken. In 1995, the Queensland Government introduced the Coastal Protection and Management Act 1995 to address the issue of attaining consistent management of Queensland's coastal resources. Under the Coastal Protection and Management Act 1995, the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency prepares statutory Regional Coastal Management Plans for the state and for eleven regions covering the Queensland coastal catchments. Nine of these Regional Plans will cover sections of the Great Barrier Reef Catchment and Queensland waters to the 3 nautical mile limit from the territorial sea baseline. These Plans provide the capacity to address a number of broad environmental concerns, especially with regard to loss of wetlands and riparian areas, through the development of State interest policies. These policies are required to be incorporated into Local Government Planning Schemes and other decision making processes.
Queensland has passed legislation to manage vegetation clearing. The Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines administers the Vegetation Management Act 1999. The purpose of the Vegetation Management Act 1999 is to regulate the broad scale clearing of vegetation on freehold land to preserve remnant endangered regional ecosystems, vegetation in areas of high nature conservation value and areas vulnerable to land degradation. The Vegetation Management Act 1999 should also ensure that clearing does not cause land degradation, maintains or increases biodiversity, maintains ecological processes and allows for ecologically sustainable land use. The Land Act 1994 provides for vegetation management on leasehold and other state land and addressed the protection of both endangered and of concerned ecosystem. Protection of catchment vegetation is critical if water quality in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area is to be protected. Queensland has also developed vegetation management and clearing policies for freehold and state land.
The Department of Natural Resources and Mines has also begun preparing Regional Vegetation Management Plans under the Vegetation Management Act 1999 to identify protection required for regional ecosystems and to develop codes of practice for clearing activities. There are presently nine Regional Vegetation Management Plans being prepared in the Great Barrier Reef Catchment. The Department of Natural Resources and Mines is also working with the community to develop Natural Resource Management Plans. The state government will be seeking accreditation of those plans by the Commonwealth Government as part of ongoing funding arrangements under the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality and National Heritage Trust.
Non-statutory regional plans are being developed under the Integrated Planning Act 1997 to guide local governments on the preparation of Planning Schemes. These plans address State interests for a variety of issues including land use and development, the protection of valuable features and the provision of infrastructure. This process is managed by the Department of Local Government and Planning (DLGP). These plans should identify constraints on where and how development occurs in the coastal zone to enhance protection of valuable features such as Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.
The implementation of plans established under these state, regional and coastal planning processes by local government planning schemes are for managing new development activities and do not generally provide for the management of existing activities, such as agriculture, that may impact on water quality in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.
Local Government Planning Instruments
All local governments are required to develop planning schemes under the Integrated Planning Act 1997 (IPA) in a transitional period ending in 2003. There are 20 local governments with boundaries along the coast adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and a total of 42 within the catchment of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. Many shires have only recently reviewed their old planning schemes (prepared under the Local Government (Planning and Environment) Act 1990) and have decided to prepare new schemes later in the transitional period. The new planning schemes are fundamentally different from the old schemes as they are performance based rather than prescriptive plans. The level of assessment for different types of development is provided for in each planning scheme except where a development is identified as assessable in the Integrated Planning Act 1997 or other legislation. The IPA provides for an Integrated Development Assessment System (IDAS) to coordinate state and local government assessment and approval requirements. Many pieces of the state legislation are now incorporated into the IDAS. The capacity for preparation of Environmental Impact Statements is now largely confined to major projects prepared under the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971 administered by the Department of State Development or for certain activities under the Environmental Protection Act 1994. Planning schemes only manage new development activities where council approval requirements are identified in the scheme. Most agricultural activities are classed as operational activities in rural zones and are ‘as of right’ with no approvals being required under the IPA.
Non-Statutory Instruments
The primary instrument for the management of environmental aspects of agricultural activity in the Great Barrier Reef Catchment is through the development of voluntary ‘codes of practice’. These codes combine with a number of other voluntary mechanisms, such as land and water management plans to provide guidance on best management practice for the industries.
Industry Codes of Practice
- Industry specific.
- Developed as industries method of addressing its ‘duty of care’ under the Queensland Environmental Protection Act 1994.
- Guide industries in methods for minimising the potential downstream effects of discharges, runoff and contaminants to coastal waterways.
- If fully implemented in their present form, should reduce pollutant discharge to the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.
- The Codes of Practice are not presently audited to measure level of uptake by farmers.
Property Management Plans
- Implemented by individual farmers.
- May contain elements to reduce farm run-off to waterways and protect wetlands and riparian zones.
- Enhanced effectiveness where they conform with a catchment strategy, regional planning strategy or water management scheme.
- Requirement for certain approvals in the Vegetation Management Act 1999, and Water Act 2000, the Sugar Industry Act 1999 and could be a relevant consideration for approval for intensification of agricultural activity under some existing local government planning schemes, e.g. Hinchinbrook Shire. For example, these plans are required for permit assessments in declared irrigation schemes (Water Act 2000) or for vegetation clearance in specific instances (Vegetation Management Act 1999).
Integrated Catchment Management
A number of land management strategies have been initiated in Queensland over the last 10 years. These include an Integrated Catchment Management program, which is based on the premise that decision making processes in the management of land and water resources must be coordinated between all stakeholders to achieve sustainability. The recognition of economically sustainable development principles at the farm level through the use of Property Management Plans also called (Land and Water Management Plans) and the implementation of industry codes of practice are now also emerging. Whilst some notable achievements have been made by Queensland agricultural industries and communities (e.g. widespread adoption of sugar cane trash blanketing to minimise exposure of soil to rainfall in many districts), appropriate land management in Queensland to achieve ecologically sustainable development principles remains a challenge.
What actions are been undertaken to improve water quality entering the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area?
Great Barrier Reef Catchment Water Quality Current Issues 2001
In September 2001 the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority released the Great Barrier Reef Catchment Water Quality Current Issues report 2001. The Great Barrier Reef Catchment Water Quality Current Issues Report 2001 provided an overview of current issues and information concerning water quality in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. The report identified land-based run-off from agricultural activities in the Great Barrier Reef Catchment as one of the greatest threats to the health of the inshore ecosystems of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.
Great Barrier Reef Catchment Water Quality Action Plan 2001
In response to the 8th June 2001 Great Barrier Reef Ministerial Council Meeting the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority was directed to identify the minimum targets for pollutant loads that would halt the decline in water quality entering the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. These targets form the basis for the Great Barrier Reef Catchment Water Quality Action Plan 2001, launched by Senator Hill on the 10th September 2001. The water quality targets are the first step in reversing the decline in water quality. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is currently working closely with the Queensland Government and Regional Natural Resource Management Groups to develop mechanisms for the identification and implementation of water quality targets for all the catchments adjacent the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.
Reef Water Quality Protection Plan
The Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area is a nationally and internationally significant area with outstanding natural, social and economic values. Over the last 150 years the land catchment areas adjacent to the Reef have undergone extensive modification for urban infrastructure, agricultural production, tourism and mining. This modification has led to significant increases in pollutant loads in the rivers since the beginning of European settlement, such that now the major source of pollutants entering the Reef are the result of land use activities in the catchment areas.
The balance of evidence is that sediment and nutrients from land-based sources are impacting the inner reefs and seagrass areas of the Reef. The vast majority of the 2900 reefs that make up the Great Barrier Reef are in good condition but some of the 450 inshore reefs are showing impacts consistent with a decline in water quality. The majority of chemical, sediment and nutrient pollutants affecting water quality in the waterways entering the Reef come from diffuse sources arising through land use activities in the Reef catchments.
For this reason the Australian and Queensland Governments have worked together to jointly address this issue by developing the Reef Water Quality Protection Plan (RWQPP). The RWQPP identifies actions, mechanisms and partnerships to build on existing Government policies and industry and community initiatives to assist in halting and reversing the decline in the quality of water entering the Reef. The focus of actions in the RWQPP is on relatively low cost measures to encourage good planning and to assist landholders in adopting best management practices that are both profitable and environmentally sustainable.. The RWQPP focuses on decreasing inputs of pollutants, and on rehabilitating and conserving areas of the reef catchment that have a role in removing water borne pollutants. Significant changes to land management practices have been occurring in the agricultural industry. Landholders continue to develop new strategies to minimise the loss of nutrients, chemicals and sediment into the waterways. This initiative acknowledges the work undertaken by them cooperatively with Government and Industry and builds on the strategies and plans already in progress.
This is a long-term plan. Actions undertaken in the RWQPP will be initially implemented over a 10 year period. Further strategies will be considered after the review in 2010. The results of these actions will be seen over a much longer period, with improvements in water quality continuing to be measured and further actions taken past this time frame. Ongoing evaluation of the RWQPP will ensure that it will reflect progress in land management practices, new developments in science and the changing structure of natural resource management.
National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality
In November 2000, the Council of Australian Governments endorsed the Commonwealth’s proposal for a National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality. The National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality identifies high priority, immediate actions to address salinity and deteriorating water quality in key catchments and regions across Australia.
The goal of the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality is to motivate and enable regional communities to use coordinated and targeted action to:
- Prevent, stabilise and reverse trends in dry land salinity affecting the sustainability of production, the conservation of biological diversity and the viability of our infrastructure.
- Improve water quality and secure reliable allocations for human uses, industry and the environment.
Under a bilateral agreement between the Commonwealth and Queensland governments, $162 million has been set-aside over the next seven years for addressing salinity and water quality issues in selected priority catchments in Queensland. The five priority areas in Queensland are the Fitzroy, Mary-Burnett, Burdekin, Lockyer-Bremer-Upper Brisbane, Condamine-Balonne-Maranoa-Moonie-Border Rivers.
The Department of Natural Resources and Mines is the lead Queensland State Government agency for the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality and will be working with other agencies to provide a whole-of-government approach. Further information can be found at the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality website.
Natural Heritage Trust
In May 2001, the Commonwealth Government extended the Natural Heritage Trust for a further five years, from 2002-03 to 2006-07. From July this year there will be more than $1 billion in funding to support the sustainable management of Australia’s natural resources.
The Commonwealth Government have worked closely with State and Territory Governments to make delivery of the trust more efficient. As a result the number of trust programs has been has been reduced from twenty three to four. The four trust programs are Landcare, Bushcare, Rivercare and Coastcare.
Regional investments will become the principal delivery mechanism for the Trust and will follow, where appropriate, the model developed for the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality. As previously discussed under this model, investments will be made on the basis of a regional natural resource management plan, incorporating the major natural resource management issues in the area.
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| Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area shipping transit routes (Click to see larger view) |
Shipping in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
The Shipping Industry
Shipping is an international industry, managed mainly by international laws, conventions and codes. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea deals with international rights of navigation and marine environment protection (among other matters). Under the international conventions, all foreign vessels have the right of innocent passage through international and territorial waters and as such the Australian government cannot generally prevent ships from travelling through the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
The majority of Queensland’s ports are located on the coast next to the Great Barrier Reef, linked by several shipping routes used for travelling through the Great Barrier Reef. Over 6,000 ships use these routes each year, carrying products like coal, sugar, iron ore and oil. Less than 10% of ships are oil or chemical tankers, with crude oil transported to southern ports using the Outer Route. About 75% of all ships travelling through the Reef use the Inner Route, with the remainder using Grafton, Palm and Hydrographers Passages.
Preventing accidents
There is a lot of community concern about the possibility of a major pollution incident, such as an oil spill, within the Reef. The effects of a spill on the marine environment could be devastating, threatening the lives of thousands of marine species, and affecting industries like tourism and fishing. To make sure this doesn’t happen, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and international, federal and state authorities work together to manage shipping, and to prevent accidents that could result in an oil spill.
In 1990, the International Maritime Organisation declared the Great Barrier Reef Region as the world's first ‘Particularly Sensitive Sea Area’, allowing the Commonwealth Government to actively pursue measures at the international level to improve shipping safety within the Great Barrier Reef. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority, Marine Safety Queensland, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the Commonwealth Department of Transport and Regional Services all work together to manage shipping in the Marine Park.
Oil spill risk assessments help plan, prepare for, and respond to oil spills. High-risk routes are identified according to shipping patterns, maritime incidents, the area’s environmental and socio-economic vulnerability, and navigational requirements. The following routes in the Reef are seen as at high-risk from shipping accidents or oil pollution: Inner Route (north of Cape Flattery), Whitsunday Islands, Hydrographers Passage and the Torres Strait.
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| Oil spill risk map of the Great Barrier Reef |
Compulsory pilotage was introduced to reduce the number of groundings and collisions caused by unpiloted ships, and to improve shipping safety. The Inner Route (Cape York to Cairns), Hydrographers Passage and the Whitsunday’s all have compulsory pilotage requirements due to their navigational difficulty. There has also been strong support for the introduction of compulsory pilotage in the Torres Strait.
Australian Maritime Safety Authority and Marine Safety Queensland jointly manage and fund REEFREP, a mandatory ship reporting system for tracking ships using the Torres Strait, Inner Route, Hydrographers, Grafton and Palm Passages. REEFREP is operated from Reef Centre at Hay Point, south of Mackay. This system helps reduce the potential for shipping accidents by providing navigational and safety information to ships travelling through the Inner Route.
The Global Positioning System (GPS) provides for an accurate satellite based navigation system operated by the United States Government. It has worldwide coverage and provides real time position, speed and heading information. Nearly all commercial vessels using the GBR have GPS on board. Increased positional accuracy is provided by Differential Global Positioning Systems (DGPS). Australian Maritime Safety Authority maintain a network of coastal DGPS broadcast stations in Australia, seven of which are located on the Queensland coast, providing total coverage of Torres Strait and the inner route of the Great Barrier Reef.
Other technologies in the form of navigation aids, Ship Reporting Systems (SRS), ship routing measures, electronic navigation charts, Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS) linked to the ships GPS also help improve safety and provide navigational assistance to ships captains. For example, a shipboard reporting system called Automatic Ship Identification (AIS) allows ships to automatically send information, such as identity, position, course and cargo details to other ships using the AIS system.
Responding to a disaster
While the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and other Commonwealth and State authorities work together to prevent disasters, it’s essential to be prepared in case one does occur. The National Plan to combat pollution of the sea by oil and other noxious and hazardous substances provides for the integration of Commonwealth, State and oil industry resources including emergency towage and salvage facilities. These resources are made available as required, according to the nature and scale of an oil or chemical pollution incident. Each Queensland port has resources capable of responding to minor spills of up to 10 tonnes. Townsville and Brisbane have resources for responding to spills up to 1,000 tonnes. For larger spills of up to 10,000 tonnes, interstate and international resources may be called upon.
Under the oil spill response arrangements, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority or the Queensland Environment Protection Agency may be called upon to provide scientific support and environmental planning information in support of the response operation. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and Queensland Environment Protection Agency also have responsibility for ensuring compliance with marine pollution legislation, coordination of shoreline assessment, clean up programs, coordination of post spill monitoring, and resource rehabilitation programs.
Enforcement
Australian Maritime Safety Authority, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and Queensland authorities regularly monitor shipping activities to ensure that local, national and international laws are followed, and to record and evaluate shipping information for future policies. Ships face heavy fines and possible prosecution if they do not follow the rules and regulations of shipping within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
What actions are being undertaken to improve management of shipping in the Great Barrier Reef
The Minister for Transport and Regional Services, the Hon John Anderson MP, established the Shipping Management Group (SMG) in July 2002 to implement the recommendations of the Review of ship safety and pollution prevention measures in the Great Barrier Reef. The SMG comprises senior officers of the Department of Transport and Regional Services, Maritime Safety Queensland, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and AMSA.
A major task of the SMG has been to oversee the development of a Shipping Impact Study and Shipping Management Plan.
If you see an oil spill
If you see an oil spill, collision or grounding, contact the Queensland Environment Protection Agency on 1300 130 372.
