Great Barrier Reef Marine Park-Gumoo Woojabuddee Section Click on thumbnail to view this map

The 350 square kilometre area includes coastal waters from Delcomyn Point to south of Corio Bay, approximately 14 kilometres north of Yeppoon. This area was not previously included in the Mackay/Capricorn Section when that Section was declared in 1986.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the Queensland Department of Environment are working together to plan for and manage the new Section, which was initially proposed five years ago.

The addition of the area to the Marine Park was recommended by the Commonwealth Government inquiry into the future use of the Shoalwater Bay area. The instigation for this inquiry was a proposal to sand mine the coastal dune systems.

The Department of Defence, who train in the area and have maintained its ecological values, were opposed to any commercial operations in the region due to probable disruption to their training activities.

Declaration of Gumoo Woojabudee Section was supported by the Department of Defence, Queensland Government, conservation groups and the Darumbal Aboriginal people because of its ecological and cultural heritage values.

The new Section and its adjacent coastline possess a range of productive and diverse ecological communities including mangroves, seagrass beds, intertidal mudflats and fringing reefs. The coastal dunes have a history of Aboriginal occupation and use.

The Ramsar-listed mudflats and the coastal dunes of Port Clinton and Corio Bay provide important roosting and feeding habitat for migratory shorebirds and seabirds.

The Port Clinton area also contains considerable seagrass meadows that provide feeding areas for dugong and marine turtles, and is part of a Dugong Protection Area (Zone 'A').

The latest addition to the Marine Park will enhance the ability for managers to protect and manage the biodiversity and other conservation values of this unique region.

The Park's new Section is already part of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and preparation of a zoning plan for the new Marine Park area will begin later this year.

An information brochure calling for public submissions in the preparation of a zoning plan for the area will be released in March this year.