CHAPTER 15 • Australian Integrated Coastal Management: A Case Study of the Great Barrier Reef 283
A key element of the policy was that it had a definable program of action designed
to improve community involvement in coastal management, address issues such as
coastal development and pollution; increase education and awareness of coastal issues;
and, promote coastal management expertize in neighbouring regions. The action program has a number of components:
• Coastcare program;
• Commonwealth Coastal Strategic Planning;
• Local Water Quality Management Plans;
• Ocean Rescue 2000 Program;
• Capacity Building;
• Coast Net and Coastal Atlas;
• National Coastal Advisory Committee and Indigenous Reference Group.
The coastal policy acknowledges that halting development and use of the coastal
zone is not an option. It notes that 86% of Australians live near the coast. The objectives and principles were developed in a cooperative approach with the states so that it
has general agreement. The flagship of the policy and its coastal action plan is the
Coastcare program which is integrative in nature and involves extensive public participation.
In 1997, the action plan was complemented and extended by the Commonwealth
government's AU $l25 million Coast and Clean Seas Program extending over a four
year period. An important aspect of this is the need for cooperation between community, local government and state government. This program provides for a number
of new activities (taking 65% of the funding): Clean Seas; Coastal and Marine Planning; Marine Species Protection; Fisheries Action; Introduced Marine Pests; Coastal
Resource Atlas; and, Oceans Policy. These were in addition to the existing activities of:
Coastcare; Marine Protected Areas; Capacity Building; Coastal Monitoring and Vulnerability.
Thus, the Commonwealth has created its own coastal policy which encourages sustainable resource use and integrated coastal management. The action plan associated
with the policy earmar~s specific funding for integrated coastal management through
programs such as Coastcare (Tailby and Lenfer 1996), improved management tools with
the Coastal Resource Atlas and the Coastal Monitoring and Vulnerability programs,
and increased knowledge base and coastal management expertize through the Capacity Building program (MorvellI996). Although the legislation for the management of
the Great Barrier Reef was in place two decades before the Commonwealth coastal
policy, it is within the broader context of the recent coastal initiatives that the current
management is carried out. However, it is first useful to illustrate the complexity and
diversity of the Reef and its uses in order to appreciate the challenge for integrated
management.
15.4
The Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system anywhere in the world. The outer
perimeter of the reef is about 23000 km long and the Great Barrier Reef Region cov-
A key element of the policy was that it had a definable program of action designed
to improve community involvement in coastal management, address issues such as
coastal development and pollution; increase education and awareness of coastal issues;
and, promote coastal management expertize in neighbouring regions. The action program has a number of components:
• Coastcare program;
• Commonwealth Coastal Strategic Planning;
• Local Water Quality Management Plans;
• Ocean Rescue 2000 Program;
• Capacity Building;
• Coast Net and Coastal Atlas;
• National Coastal Advisory Committee and Indigenous Reference Group.
The coastal policy acknowledges that halting development and use of the coastal
zone is not an option. It notes that 86% of Australians live near the coast. The objectives and principles were developed in a cooperative approach with the states so that it
has general agreement. The flagship of the policy and its coastal action plan is the
Coastcare program which is integrative in nature and involves extensive public participation.
In 1997, the action plan was complemented and extended by the Commonwealth
government's AU $l25 million Coast and Clean Seas Program extending over a four
year period. An important aspect of this is the need for cooperation between community, local government and state government. This program provides for a number
of new activities (taking 65% of the funding): Clean Seas; Coastal and Marine Planning; Marine Species Protection; Fisheries Action; Introduced Marine Pests; Coastal
Resource Atlas; and, Oceans Policy. These were in addition to the existing activities of:
Coastcare; Marine Protected Areas; Capacity Building; Coastal Monitoring and Vulnerability.
Thus, the Commonwealth has created its own coastal policy which encourages sustainable resource use and integrated coastal management. The action plan associated
with the policy earmar~s specific funding for integrated coastal management through
programs such as Coastcare (Tailby and Lenfer 1996), improved management tools with
the Coastal Resource Atlas and the Coastal Monitoring and Vulnerability programs,
and increased knowledge base and coastal management expertize through the Capacity Building program (MorvellI996). Although the legislation for the management of
the Great Barrier Reef was in place two decades before the Commonwealth coastal
policy, it is within the broader context of the recent coastal initiatives that the current
management is carried out. However, it is first useful to illustrate the complexity and
diversity of the Reef and its uses in order to appreciate the challenge for integrated
management.
15.4
The Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system anywhere in the world. The outer
perimeter of the reef is about 23000 km long and the Great Barrier Reef Region cov-