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Heard Island and Mcdonald Islands Marine Reserve Management Plan 2014–2024

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Heard Island and Mcdonald Islands Marine Reserve Management Plan 2014–2024 Australian Antarctic Division Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve Management Plan 2014-2024 ISBN: 978-1876934-255 This publication is available on the internet at: http://heardisland.antarctica.gov.au/ It is also available from the Department of Environment at [email protected] or freecall 1800 803 772. This publication should be cited as: Commonwealth of Australia (2014). Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve Management Plan 2014-2024, Department of the Environment, Canberra. © Commonwealth of Australia 2014 This work is copyright. You may download, display, print and reproduce this material in unaltered form only (retaining this notice) for your personal, non-commercial use or use within your organisation. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, all other rights are reserved. Requests and enquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to Department of the Environment, Public Affairs, GPO Box 787, Canberra ACT 2601 or email [email protected]. Disclaimer The contents of this document have been compiled using a range of source materials and are valid as at October 2014. The Australian Government is not liable for any loss or damage that may be occasioned directly or indirectly through the use of or reliance on the contents of the document. All images in this publication by: Dr. Matt Curnock Contents Part 1 Foreword and acknowledgements iii Part 2 A description of the Reserve 3 Part 3 Management plan for the Reserve 13 1. Introductory Background 14 1.1 Proclamation of the Reserve 14 1.2 Conservation significance of the Reserve 14 1.3 Previous management plans 16 1.4 Structure of this management plan 16 2. Introductory provisions 17 2.1 Short title 17 2.2 Commencement and termination 17 2.3 Interpretation (including acronyms) 17 3. IUCN category and zoning 20 4. Assessment and approval of activities 29 5. Natural heritage management 32 5.1 Terrestrial and marine ecosystems and landscape 32 5.2 Climate change 34 5.3 Waste management 35 5.4 Prevention and management of non-native species and diseases 38 5.5 Research and monitoring 43 6. Cultural heritage management 51 7. Visitor management and Reserve use 53 7.1 Management of commercial and other non-government actions 53 7.2 Access and transport 56 7.3 Management of facilities 58 7.4 Communicating Reserve values 61 8. Stakeholders and partnerships 62 i 9. Business management 64 9.1 Compliance and enforcement 64 9.2 Incident management 65 9.3 New activities and circumstances not specified in this management plan 66 9.4 Management plan implementation and evaluation 67 Part 4 Appendices 69 Appendix A Legislative and policy contexts 70 Appendix B Reserve native fauna listed under the EPBC Act 79 Appendix C Physical and biological characteristics of the Reserve’s marine environment 82 Appendix D World Heritage values of the HIMI Territory 86 5. Bibliography and further reading 88 ii / Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve Management Plan 2014-2024 Part 1 Foreword and acknowledgements iii iv / Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve Management Plan 2014-2024 Foreword Located some 4,000 kilometres south-west of This management plan is the second for the Reserve mainland Australia in the southern Indian Ocean, the and takes account of submissions received through Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve is two public consultation processes. It was prepared by Australia’s most remote Commonwealth Reserve. the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) of the Department of the Environment. The Director of The Reserve was established in October 2002 under National Parks has delegated responsibilities under the the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity EPBC Act in respect of the Reserve to the AAD in Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act). It is some recognition of the AAD’s considerable Antarctic and 71,000 square kilometres in area and includes the subantarctic expertise and its ongoing responsibilities Commonwealth external territory of Heard Island and for the administration of the Territory on behalf of the McDonald Islands. It possesses an incredibly dynamic Australian Government. Management and research natural environment dominated by volcanism, glacial activities in the Reserve are limited by its extreme action, major ocean currents and abundant wildlife. isolation and the consequent need for resource- By virtue of its extreme isolation and harsh intensive support. subantarctic climate, the Reserve is largely devoid of human introduced species. The Reserve provides This management plan provides a comprehensive important breeding and foraging grounds for many management framework to facilitate the identification, bird and mammal species, some of which are listed as protection and communication of the Reserve’s values threatened or migratory species under the EPBC Act. over the next ten years. The Reserve also contains important benthic habitats and unique marine species that collectively make an outstanding contribution to Australia’s National Dr. Tony Fleming Representative System of Marine Protected Areas. Director In recognition of its outstanding natural universal Australian Antarctic Division values, the Territory was inscribed on the World Heritage List in December 1997. Acknowledgements This management plan was prepared by the Australian Antarctic Division of the Department of the Environment. The Director of the Australian Antarctic Division acknowledges the individuals and organisations that contributed to its preparation. 1 Figure 1: Location of the Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve Reserve Marine Islands McDonald and Island Heard the of Location 1: Figure 2 / Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve Management Plan 2014-2024 Part 2 A description of the Reserve 3 Location and area Heard Island and the McDonald Islands (HIMI) 368 square kilometres in area. Following significant are located in the southern Indian Ocean some subsea volcanic activity, McDonald Island is now 4,100 kilometres south-west of Perth, Western approximately three square kilometres in area. Australia. The McDonald Islands are located The Reserve is some 71,000 square kilometres 43 kilometres west of Heard Island. Heard Island is in area. Governance and people The Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands administers the Heard Island and McDonald Islands Act (the Territory) has been an external Territory of the 1953. This responsibility has historically been Commonwealth of Australia since 1953. The Heard undertaken by the Australian Antarctic Division. Island and McDonald Islands Act 1953 provides the Intermittent visits by Australian Government legislative basis for the Territory’s administration. personnel, scientists and tourists aside, the Territory is Administration of the Territory is the responsibility of devoid of human habitation. the Australian Government department that 4 / Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve Management Plan 2014-2024 History Discovery and industry ANARE 1947-1955 Although sealing and shipping operations were The Australian National Antarctic Research undertaken around Îles Kerguelen from the 1770s Expeditions (ANARE) established a station at onwards, HIMI remained unknown to humankind Atlas Cove on 11 December 1947 as a prelude to until the mid-1800s (Downes and Downes 2005). Britain’s transfer of sovereignty over HIMI to Australia The first definitive sighting of Heard Island was made on 26 December 1947. Many of the station’s on 25 November 1853 by Captain John Heard on the 35 buildings were constructed from materials left over vessel Oriental (Green 2005b). The first definitive from World War II. In the years that followed, sighting of the McDonald Islands was made on ANARE conducted extensive botanical, geological, 4 January 1854 by Captain William McDonald on the meteorological and zoological studies around Heard vessel Samarang. More than 40 vessels made over 100 Island. It also conducted spatial surveys and produced voyages to Heard Island to conduct sealing operations the first detailed maps of Heard Island. These activities in the three decades following its discovery (Downes solidified Australian sovereignty over HIMI (Munro and Downes 2005). Heard Island’s typically severe sea 2005). The Atlas Cove station was closed in March and weather conditions and lack of sheltered harbours 1955 following the establishment of Mawson station contributed significantly to the wreckage of many in the Australian Antarctic Territory in February 1954. vessels (Budd 2007). The sealers’ principal target was the ‘sea-elephant’ (i.e. southern elephant seal Mirounga leonina) (Downes and Downes 2005, ANARE 1955-2004 Downes 2002). A very large number of southern Nineteen ANARE expeditions were undertaken at elephant seals were killed for their oil on Heard Island, HIMI between 1955 and 2004 (Green 2005a). The with production peaking between 1857 and 1859 principal objective of these expeditions was scientific (Downes and Downes 2005). Despite the near research. Scientific research was undertaken in the destruction of Heard Island’s seal populations, hunting fields of botany, geology, glaciology, meteorology and continued until 1877 (Downes and Downes 2005). zoology. Detailed geospatial and archaeological There are no records of sealing operations on surveys were also undertaken. In January 1971 a the McDonald Islands. helicopter-borne team of Australian and French expeditioners made the first documented landing on McDonald Island (Budd
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