Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2025L00070:body:0:p6
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2025L00070
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 18495–21395

pelagic fish. It also supports important biological processes, such as spawning of Christmas Island's famous red crabs. The marine park adjoins Christmas Island National Park, connecting and increasing protection across land and sea for species like Abbott's booby seabirds and land crabs, which require both environments for their survival.

Figure 2.1 Christmas Island Marine Park National Park Zone (IUCN II)

Figure 2.2 Christmas Island Marine Park Habitat Protection Zone (Christmas Island) (IUCN IV)

     1.            People and community

The community of Christmas Island is diverse. Chinese and Malay workers were brought to the island by European settlers mostly as indentured labourers to mine phosphate, starting in the late 19th century. Pay and conditions for these migrant workers was very poor for a long time and reflected entrenched inequality between Chinese and Malay people and those of European heritage. Phosphate workers formed a union in 1975, and the union movement helped migrant workers and the broader communities to greatly improve their conditions and eventually gain full equality with Europeans. At the time this plan is made, phosphate mining continues to be a key local industry and major employer on Christmas Island.

The Chinese and Malay communities of Christmas Island have developed and maintain strong ongoing cultural connections to the island and its environment. They also maintain strong connections to their origins as reflected in cultural and religious practices which continue today. Together with the rest of the population, Christmas Island's people make a diverse and unique mix that is different from anywhere else in Australia and helps to make the island a fascinating place to visit.

The ocean is a linking force for all Christmas Islanders – it is the island's primary connection to the rest of the world in terms of receiving the supplies that it needs. For many local people, the ocean is also an important source of food, a place to relax and spend time with friends and family and a crucial factor in the operations of many local businesses.

Image: Ma Chor Nui Nui temple (Kai Xin Ding, courtesy of the Shire of Christmas Island)

     1.            Values of Christmas Island Marine Park

In simple terms, 'values' are the things in or about a place that are important to people. Identifying them helps provide focus for park management. To help describe and understand values, it can be helpful to divide them into categories, even though many may overlap these categories. The values categories for Christmas Island Marine Park are:

Natural values – species and the genetic diversity they contain, habitats, ecological communities, ecosystems, and geological and geomorphological features, and the processes that sustain them.

Cultural values – tangible and intangible aspects of culture that people want to protect, maintain