Great Barrier Reef

• Road construction 
• Expansion project of a holiday resort
• Proposed mine

 "Focused Recommendations" have been grouped under five priority action areas as outlined below:

• Management of Land and Coastal Catchments
• Management of Fisheries
• Management of Shipping and Ship Sourced Pollution
• Representative Marine Protected Areas
• Resources for Research and Management

Summary of previous deliberations: At its twenty-first session (Naples, 1997), the Committee was informed by the Australian authorities of the rigorous environmental conditions set for the development activities in the Hinchinbrook region and of other measures implemented to strengthen the conservation of the Great Barrier Reef. At its twenty-second session (Kyoto, 1998), the Committee noted that the Australian authorities had acted on the findings of the financial review of the GBRMPA (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority) to further strengthen the conservation of the site. They were however, unable to provide the Centre with a copy of that review since it is considered an internal working document of the Government. In addition, the Committee requested the Centre to transmit the reports from IUCN Australia and other Australian NGOs to the State Party for review and comments and recommended that IUCN provide an up-to-date state of conservation report for the twenty-third session of the Bureau.

New information: IUCN has transmitted to the Centre a report entitled “Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area: Condition, Management and Threats” which has been forwarded to the State Party for review and comment. The report has been prepared by ACIUCN using a comprehensive monitoring process it had initiated to draw together government and non-government members from Australia and focus on key conservation issues. The report, compiled over a six-month period, was adopted by ACIUCN on 30-31 March 1999. Key issues highlighted in this report include:

• the scale and complexity of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area need to be recognised as significant issues in evaluating the threats to the integrity of the area and its management effectiveness;
• there are a range of threats to the integrity of the area, covered in detail in the report under the headings of fishing; catchment issues; oil spills; and oil shale mining;
• in terms of the current threats to the World Heritage site, all of those that are collectively grouped under “catchment issues” would seem to be the most serious; their mitigation is often confounded by State/Federal jurisdictional issues and hence, there is a need for all levels of the Government to take concerted action to address integrated catchment management in order to reduce environmental impacts on the World Heritage site;
• the implementation of a representative system of protected areas, including IUCN categories I and II (no-take zones) should be a high priority; and
• the management of the World Heritage site by a single dedicated authority needs to be strongly supported. While GBRMPA serves this role, its organisational stability and long-term funding adequacy need to be strengthened.

The Bureau, based on comments of the State Party on the ACIUCN report, and IUCN responses to those comments to be provided at the time of its session, may wish to take appropriate decisions thereupon.

Previous deliberations:

Twenty-second session of the Committee – Chapter VII.27 and page 93 of Annex IV.

Twenty-third ordinary session of the Bureau – Chapter IV.21.

Information document WHC-99/CONF.209/INF.5

New information: The twenty-third ordinary session of the Bureau, in July 1999, requested the Australian Committee for IUCN (ACIUCN) and the State Party to review the 29 recommendations listed in the March 1999 ACIUCN report “Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area: Condition, Management and Threats”. The Bureau also requested the ACIUCN and the State Party to elaborate a more focused set of recommendations and a detailed plan for their implementation and monitoring.  The Commonwealth Government of Australia in a letter dated 7 October 1999 transmitted a focused set of recommendations, and a detailed plan for their implementation and monitoring to the Centre and IUCN. These "Focused Recommendations" and the “Framework for management” of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA) are included in WHC-99/CONF.209/INF.5.

IUCN has reviewed both the "Focused Recommendations" and the "Framework for management" of the GBRWHA. The "Focused Recommendations" have been grouped under five priority action areas as outlined below:

1.    The Management of Land and Coastal Catchments (Recommendations 10 - 15 in the ACIUCN Report)

       IUCN recommends that governments report on the development and implementation of strategic plans, and on environmental impact assessment and management initiatives undertaken, with particular attention to cumulative and interacting impacts, to ensure that activities including vegetation clearance, drainage and irrigation, urban, agricultural and pastoral land use, island developments and the disturbance of acid sulphate soils are only permitted if they do not have ecologically unsustainable impacts on the GBRWHA.

2.    The Management of Fisheries (Recommendations 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 in the ACIUCN Report)

IUCN recommends that governments give high priority to the development and implementation of management plans with sustainability indicators for all fisheries in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.  These should address not only the target species and stock but also bycatch and the condition of the ecosystem upon which the fishery depends. 

3.    The Management of Shipping and Ship Sourced Pollution (Recommendations 20 and 21 in the ACIUCN Report)

IUCN recommends that further international efforts should be taken to address the risks posed to the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area by shipping with inadequately trained ships crews and inadequately maintained vessels.

4.        Representative Marine Protected Areas (Recommendation 27 in the ACIUCN Report)

IUCN recommends as a matter of high priority that the percentage of no-take (IUCN category 1 and 2) areas within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area should be increased to achieve a comprehensive adequate and representative system of protected areas.

5.        Resources for Research and Management (Recommendations 28 and 29 in the ACIUCN Report)

IUCN recommends that the State Party provide adequate funding to managing authorities and other relevant agencies for research and vital management essential for maintenance of the values of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.  This should include the provision to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority of a core budget from general revenue sufficient to allow it to meet its World Heritage obligations.

For each of the above five action areas, the "Framework for management" elaborates the following:

·        a brief background to the recommendation;

·        key issues;

·        the actions proposed;

·        an indication of the lead agency (and other agencies involved);

·        the date when the action is due;

·        any additional comments; and

·        main references for further information relating to the recommendation.

IUCN considers the "Framework for management" as proposed by the State Party to be comprehensive and that it establishes a basis for monitoring the implementation of the "Focused recommendations". IUCN commends the work undertaken by the State Party in full consultation with the State Government of Queensland and ACIUCN and other concerned stakeholders and welcomes this consultative approach.  IUCN reiterates its view that catchment issues pose the most serious threat to the GBRWHA and notes the urgency of the need for effective integrated catchment management to reduce environmental impact on the World Heritage site. IUCN however, notes and agrees with the State Party that many of these issues will require social and economic changes of a scale which will take years to achieve, such as in relation to modification of land use related impacts and the management of fisheries. This underlines the importance of developing strategic objectives and actions to ensure the long term protection of the GBRWHA and establish a plan to monitor their implementation as has been established in the "Framework for management".