THE STATE OF
THE GREAT BARRIER REEF
WORLD HERITAGE AREA REPORT

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Steve Hillman

The last issue of Reef Research summarised some of the findings of
the State of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area Workshop held in November 1995.
That article focused on ecological findings of the workshop and foreshadowed
looking at other aspects in future issues. This issue will look at some other issues
such as values and experiences as well as tourism and its impacts
on the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

So what are the 'values' of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and how do we develop an inventory of them? The simplistic approach is to just list those attributes that are, on face value, valuable. This list might include dugongs, turtles, special places and so on. While not arguing for one moment that these are not valuable attributes, it seems to me that if they are of outstanding value, for any number of reasons, then there will be considerable pressure to protect them by other means, whether a World Heritage Area exists or not. That said, there are a number of ways of valuing the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. The current status of knowledge has been acquired through various research studies and the public participation process as well as information that has been compiled regarding such things as tourism, recreation, other human uses and economics.

The information base that we have to work with is incomplete, particularly as it relates to values associated with indirect or vicarious use and values of those not associated with the participatory process. An integrated approach is required to build a better time-series of information at a range of scales regarding recreation and tourism, indigenous use, economics and other things that people consider necessary to protect world heritage status.

In my view, the true value of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area is that it is a complex but integrated assemblage of species, communities, habitats and ecosystems that is unique in the world. To try and tease out individual items that are of value is a simplistic and anti-intellectual consideration of values and ignores the relationships that exist in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and that fact that the whole is necessary for the flora and fauna to continue to live in a relatively undisturbed and pristine area.

TOURISM IMPACTS

ourism is a major use of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and is estimated to be worth well over one billion dollars annually. Tourism impacts have been studied in the context of the ecological, social and cultural values of the area.

Generally speaking the ecological impacts of tourism have been demonstrated to be minimal and very localised and have been well managed. Where structures are part of a tourism project, the Marine Park Authority requires rigorous assessment, particularly with regard to the effects on the ecology of the site. To date, predictions about changes to the fauna and flora of areas that have been developed have been quite reliable and the Authority is now in a position to accurately assess developments and put in place monitoring programs that will detect any environmental changes before they become a problem. Monitoring programs are funded by the developer but managed by staff in the Research and Monitoring Section. These programs are carried out by independent consultants to ensure impartiality. It is likely that monitoring of structures will be reduced in scale in the future.

Much less information is available about the impacts of tourist and recreational activities where monitoring has not been possible, and the effect of cumulative impacts have not been satisfactorily addressed. Management plans are in various stages of development for a number of heavily used sites and regions. Little work has been carried out on the impacts on amenity or social values associated with tourism but this is receiving greater attention now that the Authority has gained a good understanding of ecological impacts.

Anchor damage has been identified as an impact that needs to be addressed, and moorings have been established in the Whitsundays and around various reefs in the Cairns Section. The effectiveness of these moorings has yet to be properly assessed however.

Probably the greatest threat to the Reef comes from adjacent terrestrial tourist developments which can impact on water quality, mangroves and seagrass beds.

EXPERIENCES

ork to date that has examined the experiences that people have and what they expect has been limited to a detailed study at Lady Musgrave Island, a study at a pontoon at Norman Reef, some work done in the Whitsundays and occasional point data. A number of new studies, especially associated with diving and snorkelling, will expand on this knowledge base.

Work to date indicates that:

there are a wide range of experiences sought by visitors,

interactions between users has received little attention,

nature is the most important part of the experience desired by visitors visiting the Reef,

the experiences of many visitors are dominated by excitement and novelty and these are regarded as of high quality,

crowding is seen to be a negative experience by many visitors,

different users often resent other users and their impact on experiences that are sought after, and

the allocation of specific sites for particular purposes is perceived by many to be degrading reefs that they are possessive about - this is particularly the case with regard to some forms of intensive tourism.

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Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
PO Box 1379 TOWNSVILLE QLD 4810. Phone: (077) 500 700, Fax: (077) 726 093
E-mail: registry@gbrmpa.gov.au