Culture and history
ABC Radio National's Science Show
Christmas Island's environment
Most people know Christmas Island as a place for refugees. Few people know it as a place of natural beauty, where a unique ecosystem of plants and animals has developed over millions of years.
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Photo: Lister's gecko Lepidodactylus listeri
Park conservation and significance
The Christmas Island Species Inventory Database recognises 253 endemic animals and plants, and another 160 that do not occur anywhere else in Australia. No other land area or reserve in Australia supports so many internationally and nationally significant species in such a small area.
The island is part of the network of habitats of migratory species that Australia must protect under international agreements such as the Japan-Australia, China-Australia and the Republic of Korea-Australia Migratory Birds Agreements (JAMBA, CAMBA and ROKAMBA). Many other islands in the Indian Ocean and the South East Asia region are losing habitat to expanding human populations, so the habitats on Christmas Island, by default, are of ever-increasing importance.
63 per cent of the island's 135 square kilometres is now protected under the Christmas Island National Park. The park provides exceptional opportunities for ecological study, as islands have always played an important role in the development of ecological theory. By regarding islands as habitats of various sizes neatly separated from each other over a wide range of distances, ecologists have gained much insight into the basic processes of dispersal, immigration, competition, adaptation and extinction. These factors determine distribution and abundance of plants and animals.
The park is readily accessible and visitors can observe the classic patterns of island colonisation, and their evolutionary implications. The park presents many opportunities for eco-tourism because of its unique rainforest, the variety and number of seabirds, the spectacular red crab migration and the rugged land and seascapes.
Christmas Island was settled 120 years ago. Today the Settlement comprises a small community of around 1,300 to 1,500 people. In the past, the phosphate mining enterprise has been the basis of the island’s economy. Today the island’s economy is being overtaken by the activities of the Australian Government’s Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) housing up to 2000 asylum seekers seeking entry to Australia. The Federal Attorney General’s Department, DSEWPaC, the Shire of Christmas Island, and Phosphate Resources Limited all have control over areas on the Island. Around four per cent of the Island is taken up by the Settlement and associated facilities, 14 per cent by phosphate mining activities, 19 per cent is Unallocated Crown Land and 63 per cent is the rainforest-dominated Christmas Island National Park.
