Great Sandy Biosphere Reserve Queensland | |
---|---|
Nearest town or city | Hervey Bay [1] |
Coordinates | 25°22′58.656″S152°49′39.828″E / 25.38296000°S 152.82773000°E |
Established | 1977 [2] |
Area | 12,422.16 [2] |
Visitation | 950,000 (annual estimate) (in 2016) [2] |
Website | Great Sandy Biosphere Reserve |
Footnotes | Coordinates [2] |
Great Sandy Biosphere Reserve is a biosphere reserve in the Australian state of Queensland located on land and coastal waters associated both with the local government areas of the Fraser Coast Region and the Gympie Region and Fraser Island (also known as K'Gari and Gari), and with the bay known as Hervey Bay. [1]
The biosphere reserve was described by UNESCO in 2016 as: [2]
The Great Sandy Biosphere Reserve is located in the Southeast Queensland Bioregion in eastern Australia. Renowned for its cultural and ecological significance, the reserve contains the Great Sandy Strait, a Ramsar-listed wetland, and Fraser Island, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The reserve incorporates the largest Sand Island and coastal sand mass in the world.
The biosphere reserve was established in 2009 and its managing authorities are reported as being the Burnett Mary Regional Group for Natural Resource Management Ltd., the Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland), the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and the local government areas of the Fraser Coast Region and the Gympie Region. [2] [3]
The reserve is a volcanic area and the highest peak in its vicinity is Mount Mothar (450 metres above sea level). There are 6 rivers flowing through the reserve and it is known for being home to the world's tallest and richest rainforest growing on sand. [4]
Protected areas of Australia include Commonwealth and off-shore protected areas managed by the Australian government, as well as protected areas within each of the six states of Australia and two self-governing territories, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, which are managed by the eight state and territory governments.
Great Sandy National Park is a coastal national park in the Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia.
Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an intergovernmental scientific program, launched in 1971 by UNESCO, that aims to establish a scientific basis for the 'improvement of relationships' between people and their environments.
Fraser Island, officially K'gari, is a World Heritage-listed sand island along the south-eastern coast in the Wide Bay–Burnett region, Queensland, Australia. The island is approximately 250 km (160 mi) north of the state capital, Brisbane, and is within the Fraser Coast Region local government area. The world heritage listing includes the island, its surrounding waters and parts of the nearby mainland which make up the Great Sandy National Park. In the 2021 census, the island had a population of 152 people. Up to 500,000 people visit the island each year.
Hervey Bay is a city on the coast of the Fraser Coast Region of Queensland, Australia. The city is situated approximately 290 kilometres (180 mi) or 3½ hours' highway drive north of the state capital, Brisbane. It is located on the bay of the same name open to the Coral Sea between the Queensland mainland and nearby K'gari. The local economy relies on tourism which is based primarily around whale watching in Platypus Bay to the north, ferry access to K'gari, accessible recreational fishing and boating and the natural north facing, calm beaches with wide undeveloped foreshore zones. In October 2019, Hervey Bay was named the First Whale Heritage Site in the world by the World Cetacean Alliance, for its commitment to and practices of sustainable whale and dolphin watching.
The Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve encompasses a large part of the island of Great Nicobar, the largest of the Nicobar Islands in the Indian Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Nicobars lie in the Bay of Bengal, eastern Indian Ocean, 190 km (120 mi) to the north of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The reserve has a total core area of approximately 885 km2, surrounded by a 12 km-wide "forest buffer zone". In year 2013 it was included in the list of Man and Biosphere program of UNESCO to promote sustainable development based on local community effort and sound science.
Cascade Head is a headland and 102,110-acre (41,320 ha) UNESCO biosphere reserve and United States Forest Service Experimental Forest. It is situated 85 miles (137 km) southwest of Portland, Oregon on the Oregon Coast between Lincoln City and Neskowin. Cascade Head Preserve is a Nature Conservancy Selected Site.
The Golden Gate Biosphere Network is a voluntary coalition of federal, state, and local government agencies, nonprofit organizations, universities, and private partners within the Golden Gate Biosphere region. The Network aims to protect the region's biodiversity and conserve its natural resources, enhancing quality of life for local residents. The Network has been part of the UNESCO Man and Biosphere Programme since 1988 and is part of the US Biosphere Network and EuroMAB. It is recognized by UNESCO due to the significant biodiversity of the region, as well as the Network's efforts to demonstrate and promote a balanced relationship between humans and the biosphere.
The Regions of Queensland refer to the geographic areas of the Australian state of Queensland. Due to its large size and decentralised population, the state is often divided into regions for statistical and administrative purposes. Each region varies somewhat in terms of its economy, population, climate, geography, flora and fauna. Cultural and official perceptions and definitions of the various regions differ somewhat depending on the government agency or popular group by which they are being applied.
The Mary River is a major river system in the South East and Wide Bay–Burnett regions of Queensland, Australia. The Mary River is unique in that it flows south to north.
The Great Sandy Strait is a strait in the Australian state of Queensland of 70 kilometres (43 mi) length which separates mainland Queensland from Fraser Island. It is also a locality in the Fraser Coast Region local government area. To the north of the strait is Hervey Bay. In the 2021 census, Great Sandy Strait had "no people or a very low population".
Rainbow Beach is a coastal rural town and locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the locality of Rainbow Beach had a population of 1,220 people.
Tin Can Bay is a coastal town and locality in the Wide Bay–Burnett region in Queensland, Australia. The locality is split between the Fraser Coast Region and the Gympie Region, but the town itself is within Gympie Region. In the 2021 census, the locality of Tin Can Bay had a population of 2,293 people.
The Fraser Coast Region is a local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about 250 kilometres (160 mi) north of Brisbane, the state capital. It is centred on the twin cities of Hervey Bay and Maryborough and also contains K'gari. It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Cities of Maryborough and Hervey Bay and the Shires of Woocoo and most of Tiaro. The resident population at the 2021 census was 111,032 and the estimated population in 2023 was 117,940.
The Gympie Region is a local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about 170 kilometres (110 mi) north of Brisbane, the state capital. It is between the Sunshine Coast and Hervey Bay and centred on the town of Gympie. It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Shires of Cooloola and Kilkivan and part of the Shire of Tiaro.
Tweed–Moreton, also known as the Central Eastern Shelf Transition, is a marine biogeographic region of eastern Australia.
Under UNESCO's Man and Biosphere Reserve Programme, there are 142 biosphere reserves recognized as part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves in Asia and the Pacific as of April 2016. These are distributed across 24 countries in the region.
Under UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme, there are 308 biosphere reserves recognized as part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves in Europe and North America. These are distributed across 41 countries in the region.
The geography of Queensland in the north-east of Australia, is varied. It includes tropical islands, sandy beaches, flat river plains that flood after monsoon rains, tracts of rough, elevated terrain, dry deserts, rich agricultural belts and densely populated urban areas.
Wide Bay–Burnett is a region of the Australian state of Queensland, located between 170–400 km (110–250 mi) north of the state capital, Brisbane. The area's population growth has exceeded the state average over the past 20 years, and it is forecast to grow to more than 430,000 by 2031. It is the subject of the Draft Wide Bay–Burnett Regional Plan, which aims to facilitate this growth while protecting over 90% of the region from urban development.