Bringing the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park zoning into the 21st century: an overview of the Representative Areas Program

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP) is a multiple use park, which allows for a variety of levels of extractive and non-extractive use including commercial fishing, tourism, research and recreational activities. Only 4.5% of the GBRMP is protected from extractive practices such as fishing and collecting under current management arrangements. The vast weight of scientific evidence indicates this is not sufficient. The Representative Areas Program (RAP) aims to protect 'representative' examples of the entire range of habitats, plants and animals in the GBRMP while minimising impacts on existing users. This program is being implemented by revising existing Zoning Plans. The preparation of the new Zoning Plan has included one of the most extensive and comprehensive formal community consultations in Australia's history, extending over two years, with over 31,000 formal submissions from individuals, community groups and industry bodies. The new Zoning Plan was tabled in Parliament in December 2003 and will increase protection of the GBRMP to 33.3%, offering a comprehensive network of no-take zones to provide greater protection for the Great Barrier Reef's unique biodiversity, while continuing to provide opportunities for the use of, and access to, the GBRMP. The new Zoning Plan provides the largest network of no-take protected marine areas in the world and is the largest marine protection plan developed in the history of the Great Barrier Reef. This paper looks at one of the most complex jobs faced by the managers of the GBRMP - the process of deciding just what may be done, where in an area five times the size of Tasmania and the consultation process involved.