Moreton Bay Marine Park

Overview

 

 

 

 

The Moreton Bay Marine Park is a State marine park, managed by Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS).

First declared in 1993, the Moreton Bay Marine Park covers over 3400km² and stretches 125km from Caloundra to the Gold Coast. The Moreton Bay Marine Park takes in most of the Bay’s tidal waters, including many river estuaries, and extends seawards to the limit of Queensland waters. It is an area of unique conservation values and high biodiversity.

The Moreton Bay Marine Park protects natural and cultural values across a range of marine and coastal environments including rocky shores, coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass meadows and sandy beaches and the internationally significant wetlands of the Moreton Bay Ramsar site. These habitats provide important seasonal resources for migratory wading birds, humpback whales and marine turtles. Permanent resident species include dolphins, dugong, shorebirds, grey nurse sharks and various fish species. Eleven Fish Habitat Areas, declared under the Fisheries Act 1994 to protect habitat important for the State’s fisheries from the impacts of coastal development, are also present within the marine park.

The marine park is used for a wide range of activities, from fishing and recreation to defence activities and scientific research. The Moreton Bay Marine Park Zoning Plan provides the management detail for the protection of the natural, cultural and use values of the marine park and aims to balance its ecologically sustainable use. It is subordinate legislation under the Marine Parks Act 2004, the purpose of which is conservation of the marine environment. The zoning plan establishes and defines the location of a network of spatially defined zones which afford different levels of protection and a network of designated areas that protect specific values at particular locations, and specifies the associated zone and designated area entry and use provisions for each. The zoning plan is the primary tool used to manage the marine park, supported by public education programs, signs, permits, compliance programs, routine surveillance and scientific monitoring. Read more about the marine’s park’s management and zoning.

Catchment stories

Wetland observations

Show comparison charts

Wetland extents

Based on wetland mapping version 6.0

Disclaimer

Areas do not include marine or estuarine waters but do include estuarine wetland vegetation
(e.g. mangroves and tidal flats).

All statistics are approximate and generated based on data transformed to a customised Albers equal-area projection, thus allowing wetland extent change for different regions of Queensland to be comparable.

Areas may change over time as mapping approaches improve.

Totals may not match the sum of individually displayed figures due to the rounding of displayed figures.

Wetland extent changes

* Total 2019/pre-clear percentage excludes artificial and highly modified

Disclaimer

Areas do not include marine or estuarine waters but do include estuarine wetland vegetation
(e.g. mangroves and tidal flats).

All statistics are approximate and generated based on data transformed to a customised Albers equal-area projection, thus allowing wetland extent change for different regions of Queensland to be comparable.

Areas may change over time as mapping approaches improve.

Totals may not match the sum of individually displayed figures due to the rounding of displayed figures.

External links/description

Wildlife