Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is the only living organic collective visible from Earth's orbit. The Great Barrier Reef, off the east coast of Australia, is one of the wonders of the natural world - it is the world's largest coral reef ecosystem and was declared a World Heritage Listed area in 1981.
The Great Barrier Reef includes over 2,900 reefs, around 940 islands and cays, and stretches 2,300 kms along the Queensland coastline. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is 345,000 km2, that's larger than the entire area of the UK and Ireland combined!
The reef is immensely diverse with 1,500 species of fish, 359 types of hard coral, one third of the world's soft corals, 175 bird species, six of the world's seven species of threatened marine turtle and more than 30 species of marine mammals including vulnerable dugongs.
More than two million people visit the reef each year generating more than $AU2 billion in tourism dollars, making tourism a major earner for the north-eastern Australian economy. Tourists are carried to the reef system by more than 500 commercial vessels, and tourism is permitted through nearly all the Park. There are approximately 730 tourism operators and 1,500 vessels and aircraft permitted to operate in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. About 60% of these permitted operators are actively undertaking a tourism operation in the Marine Park.
Most of the Reef is part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and various parts of it are protected in certain ways. For example, fishing is restricted in some areas and particular animals, like whales, dolphins, green turtles and dugong are protected. Having many parts protected also lessens that chances of human damage occurring!
Many governmental groups and environmental activists are continually trying to get the message out about the conservation of this precious environment. With its many inhabitants that call these waters home, we should all try to keep the Great Barrier Reef beautiful so that our future generations can experience it as well in all its glory. Visitors in their thousands come to the Great Barrier Reef to marvel at the spectacular sightseeing opportunities that is unique to our area. The Wet Tropics World Heritage listed Rainforest on one side and the Great Barrier Reef on the other. No other place in the world offers such diversity so close to each other.
Keeping the Barrier Reef ‘Great’ for future generations requires the cooperative effort of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, other government agencies, the marine tourism industry and other stakeholders. By working together, the diversity, integrity and productivity of the Great Barrier Reef can be maintained and the impacts of all activities in the Marine Park can be minimised. The goal is to provide for the protection, wise use, understanding and enjoyment of the Great Barrier Reef in perpetuity.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is a treasure to us all, so why don’t you come and experience it for yourself and be in awe of its natural and astounding beauty.
