Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
Queensland
Boardwalk through a mangrove forest featured in Estuarine Conservation Zone as part of The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is located in Queensland
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is located in Australia
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
Coordinates18°34′4″S 148°33′19″E / 18.56778°S 148.55528°E / -18.56778; 148.55528
Established1975
Area343,966 km2 (132,806.0 sq mi)[1]
Managing authorities
WebsiteGreat Barrier Reef Marine Park

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park protects a large part of Australia's Great Barrier Reef from damaging activities. It is a vast multiple-use Marine Park which supports a wide range of uses, including commercial marine tourism, fishing, ports and shipping, recreation, scientific research and Indigenous traditional use. Fishing and the removal of artefacts or wildlife (fish, coral, seashells, etc.) is strictly regulated, and commercial shipping traffic must stick to certain specific defined shipping routes that avoid the most sensitive areas of the park. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest and best known coral reef ecosystem in the world. Its reefs, almost 3000 in total, represent about 10 per cent of all the coral reef areas in the world. It supports an amazing variety of biodiversity, providing a home to thousands of coral and other invertebrate species, bony fish, sharks, rays, marine mammals, marine turtles, sea snakes, as well as algae and other marine plants.[2]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference CAPAD2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (2009). "Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report 2009" (PDF). Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.