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Marine Protected Areas
The Coringa-Herald National Nature Reserve lies in the Coral Sea, about 400 kilometres east of Cairns. It comprises of 8856 square kilometres with three sand cays (Herald Cays, Coringa Islets and Magdelaine Cays).
Coringa-Herald National Nature Reserve is only 100km from Lihou Reef National Nature Reserve and together they lie in a remote oceanic environment on the Coral Sea Plateau, which is separated from the Great Barrier Reef by an area of deep water known as the Queensland Trough.
The most recent management plan was prepared in 2001 under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) and assigns the reserves to an IUCN category 1a — strict nature reserve. This management plan expires on 4 September 2008 and interim management arrangements will apply until a new management plan is in place.
