World Heritage Site: Great Barrier Reef Visitor Management

World Heritage Site

Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Nicole Morizio

Spencer Milic

Dr. Paula Johnson – Tew

HOST

Tuesday, April 10th, 2010

Background Information

Located just off the North East coast of Queensland, a state of Australia, sits the Great Barrier Reef, a 20,000 square kilometer long coral reef that extends to Papua New Guinea. This natural wonder is considered the world’s largest stretch of coral reef, with millions of years in the making along Australia’s continental shelf and was added to the World Heritage Site list in 1981 (UNESCO, 2012). With over 1,500 various species of fish, 5,000 types of mollusk, 360 classes of hard coral, over 175 kinds of birds and various other aquatics, makes the Great Barrier Reef the most plush coral ecosystem on a global scale.

There are approximately 2,900 singular coral reefs that encompass this entire area, ranging from 1 – 10,000 hectares in size and shape. In terms of the classification between hard coral, there are two specific species platform and wall reefs. The distinctions are established by their growth patterns; platform reefs are typically circular and wall reefs have been known to stretch in one direction. Based on the geographic region and coast of Australia, 600 continental islands that house fringing reefs where coral grows off of low current rock surround the Great Barrier Reef. With the addition of these landmasses that individually differ from a landscape perspective, it enhances and adds profundity to the over all visitor experience (UNESCO, 2012).

The Great Barrier Reef is also the residence to a few aquatics on the Endangered Species list: dugong (a manatee like classification) and two turtle species, green and loggerhead. Considering their vanishing numbers, this creates a stress on their successful longevity, hence the particular habitat in which they thrive and feed. This ecosystem also houses the perfect conditions for humpback and other whale varieties. Algae and...