Marine Protected Areas
Most publications are available as PDF files. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view PDF files.
If you are unable to access a publication, please contact us to organise a suitable alternative format.
Links to another web site
Opens a pop-up window
Environment Australia, 2001
ISBN 0 642 54766 1
Coringa-Herald National Nature Reserve (Coringa-Herald NNR) and Lihou Reef National Nature Reserves (Lihou Reef NNR) are collectively known as the Coral Sea National Nature Reserves (the 'Reserves'). They are located within the Coral Sea Islands Territory to the east of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (Figure 1). The Reserves 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 Coringa-Herald NNR and Lihou Reef NNR (Figures 2 and 3) cover approximately 8,860 and 8,440 square kilometres respectively and they are separated from each other by approximately 100km of open ocean waters.
The Coral Sea National Nature Reserves were declared under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975 (NPWC Act) on 16 August 1982 (Attachment A). The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) replaced the NPWC Act on 16 July 2000. Accordingly, while the first plans of management for the Reserves were prepared under the NPWC Act, this Plan has been prepared under the EPBC Act. Given the close proximity of the Reserves, the similar nature of the threats they face and their management arrangements, the second management plans for the Reserves have been combined into one document (the 'Plan'). This is consistent with section 367(5) of the EPBC Act that allows for management plans for different reserves to appear in the one document.
The Reserves have national and international significance due to their near pristine condition, regionally representative shelf-edge oceanic reef, spectacular and unusual underwater topography, breeding seabirds, and undisturbed habitat for nesting green turtles, Chelonia mydas. The Reserves encompass extensive reef systems (covering up to 300 hectares) with twenty-four sandy islets and cays that have developed on shallow shelves of the Plateau. As well as protecting the waters and seabed, the Reserves protect the subsoil and reefs to a depth of 1000 metres below the seabed.
Because the Coral Sea Islands Territory is situated in a remote oceanic environment, it is isolated from the effects of coastal influences. The result is that the waters often have a very high visibility of up to 60 metres. The reef systems of the Reserves support a rich range of coral assemblages that do not have a recorded history of disturbance by the crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster planci, the predatory marine snail Drupella cornis, or other coral predators.
The marine flora and fauna of the Reserves are distinct from those of the Great Barrier Reef. In particular, the sessile benthic community is quite variable and it is not dominated by hard corals. Benthic communities prominent in the Reserves include Halimeda (a calcified algae of warm seas), sponge gardens, and coralline substrate with encrusting coralline and turf algaes - communities that are uncommon in the shallower water of the Great Barrier Reef (ANPWS 1989a, b; Byron et al., in press).
The primary objective of the Coral Sea National Nature Reserves is to maintain ecological processes and systems, and to protect the habitats and biodiversity of the Reserves from the pressures associated with human use. Secondary objectives are to encourage research and monitoring and to allow for appropriate recreational opportunities that are consistent with the primary objective.
The key conservation values of the Reserves are:
The Coringa-Herald National Nature Reserve and Lihou Reef National Nature Reserve Management Plan expires on 4 September 2008. Until a new management plan is in place, the Reserves will be managed under interim management arrangements.