7. Existing protection and management

Recreation is defined as an independent visit for enjoyment that is not part of a commercial operation ¹³⁶⁸ and includes both local and international tourists. Responsibility for management of recreational use is spread across numerous Australian and Queensland government agencies, including the Reef Authority, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Maritime Safety Queensland, and Queensland Boating and Fishing Patrol (Department of Agriculture and Fishing).

Recreation is managed through the Recreation Management Strategy for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (the Recreation Management Strategy).¹³⁶⁸ It is nested under a suite of management tools including the Marine Park Act, regulations, zoning plan and plans of management. Specific plans of management have been developed for areas of high recreational use (the Whitsundays, Hinchinbrook and Cairns) and a new plan of management for the southern section of the Reef is being developed. As of 2022, to decrease the risk to the ecosystem, 59 per cent of no-anchoring areas within the Marine Park were legislated (enforceable under law).

Recreation is generally considered well managed and poses low risk to the Reef.^5,1978 However, a critical gap remains in systematic monitoring to understand and manage for the changing nature and scale of recreational use in the Region. Since 2019, several projects have been established to develop monitoring frameworks and may provide information on human dimensions of the Reef,¹³⁹⁹ including recreation. These include mapping patterns of vessel activity and establishing monitoring frameworks for sustainable use and benefits of the Reef, stewardship efforts on the Reef, and governance of the Reef. An extended System of Environmental Economic Accounting — Ecosystem Accounting framework is newly available to help Reef managers to understand ecosystem services and benefits, including as relevant to recreational use.¹³²³

Funding is currently dedicated to developing these frameworks and testing the methods, though long-term investment in is not secured so their ongoing implementation and data collection is uncertain. If implemented and funded, these projects may fill a critical monitoring gap and help managers monitor, understand, identify and respond to changes in recreational use, for instance, in types of use, spatial patterns, user motivations, infrastructure developments.

Financial input into management of recreation has increased since 2019. Funding is targeted at filling knowledge gaps and on the expansion, maintenance and evaluation of public moorings, including assessing their effectiveness in reef protection and preventing anchor damage. A whole-of-program increase has recently occurred within the Reef Joint Field Management Program, with significant investment towards compliance activities. Stakeholder engagement remains strong with Reef Authority and Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service staff in regional offices engaging with recreational users, particularly through Local Marine Advisory Committees and engagement with the Reef Guardian programs. 

Despite the lack of systematic monitoring, recreational use of the Reef is understood to have grown and is projected to continue to change (Section 5.5.1). As such, regular reviews of management plans, such as the Recreation Management Strategy ¹³⁶⁸ and plans of management, are necessary to ensure they remain fit-for-purpose and commensurate to potential changing risks.