Effective governance of a large and complex cross-jurisdictional marine protected area: Australia's Great Barrier Reef

Jon C Day and Kirstin Dobbs

Marine Policy, 2013, vol. 41, issue C, 14-24

Abstract: Australia's Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef ecosystem on earth. The governance of such a large and iconic area is complex due to the overlapping federal and state (Queensland) jurisdictions. Since 1975 this globally significant area has been protected by pioneering federal legislation which enabled the ‘reasonable use’ of natural resources to co-exist with conservation, thus introducing the concept of a multiple-use marine park. In 1981 the Great Barrier Reef was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Area. Today a federal multiple-use Marine Park covers 99% of the Great Barrier Reef Region and World Heritage Area, with the remaining areas under state jurisdiction. A close working partnership between the federal and state governments has evolved over 37 years and includes complementary legislation, joint field management and joint permits. In the face of increasing pressures, management of the Great Barrier Reef continues to be effective for a range of reasons, including a sound governance/legislative framework together with complementary federal/state legislation; integrated management with relevant federal and state agencies; and the application of ecosystem-based management principles both inside and outside the area of the marine park's jurisdiction. This integrated and comprehensive management model is widely regarded as effective by marine and coastal managers around the world.

Keywords: MPA; Governance; Multiple-use; Marine management; Zoning; Great Barrier Reef (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X12002618
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:marpol:v:41:y:2013:i:c:p:14-24

DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2012.12.020

Access Statistics for this article

Marine Policy is currently edited by Eddie Brown

More articles in Marine Policy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().