Great Barrier Reef Marine Park: landscape and origins
The world's largest coral reef ecosystem is not a single reef but a mosaic of thousands of reefs, islands and seagrass meadows across 14 degrees of latitude.
The Marine Park lies off the east coast of Queensland and is between 60 and 250 km (37 and 155 mi) wide. Near the coast the water averages 35 m (115 ft) deep; at the outer reefs the continental slope drops to more than 2,000 m (6,562 ft).
Because the same rules do not apply everywhere, the park is divided into zones: in green zones nothing may be taken, in others fishing is allowed, and pink zones are closed to all entry. On top of this come plans for especially popular areas such as the Whitsundays.
According to the Reef Authority, the reef contributes more than A$9 billion a year to the Australian economy and supports about 77,000 full-time jobs; most of it comes from tourism.
The park in numbers
- Area
- 344,400 km²
- Length of coast
- about 2,300 km (1,429 mi)
- Width
- 60–250 km (37–155 mi)
- Reefs
- about 3,000
- Protected since
- 1975
- UNESCO World Heritage
- 1981
- Fish species
- 1.625
- Marine turtles
- 6 species
