Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2025L00071:body:0:p6
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2025L00071
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 17925–20897

the southern atoll lagoon and the seawalled shorelines of Home Island and West Island were not incorporated into the marine park, ensuring certainty for activities and infrastructure critical for community services and the operation of the islands, such as the ferry service, freight services, fuel loading and seawall maintenance.

The Cocos (Keeling) Islands marine region supports high levels of species richness and diversity, including varieties of marine fauna found nowhere else in the world. The southern atoll lagoon system and outer coral reefs provide habitat for species from both Indian and Pacific Ocean bioregions, and over 600 species of fish have been recorded. The overlap of these bioregions in this area has given rise to the evolution of hybrid marine fauna, as well as some endemic species.
The offshore deep-sea marine environment of the marine park is characterised by ridges, plains and seamounts, including Muirfield Seamount, around 130 km to the south‑west of Cocos (Keeling) Islands, which rises to within 20 m of the surface and is abundant with marine life.
The Cocos (Keeling) Islands marine environment supports species such as penyu (marine turtles), cucut (sharks) and ikan hijau (humphead Māori wrasse). The lagoon ecosystem provides shallow, sheltered waters for juvenile fish species, as well as deeper coral habitats that support them as they mature. The marine park adjoins Pulu Keeling National Park, connecting and increasing protection across land and sea for species like burung bebek (masked booby seabirds) and green turtles, which require both environments for their survival.

Figure 2.1 Cocos (Keeling) Islands Marine Park offshore National Park Zone (IUCN II)

Figure 2.2 Cocos (Keeling) Islands Marine Park Habitat Protection Zone (Cocos (Keeling) Islands) (IUCN IV)

Figure 2.3 Cocos (Keeling) Islands Marine Park and port area

    2.2           People and community

Cocos Malay people, who make up the majority of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands population, are descended from the original inhabitants  the predominantly Malay workers who were brought to the islands by European settlers to plant and work coconut plantations, commencing in the 1820s. In 1955, the islands were proclaimed a territory of the Commonwealth, and the Australian Government purchased the title of the islands from the Clunies-Ross family in 1978. In 1984, the Cocos Malay community voted for integration with the Australian mainland in a United Nations supervised Act of Self Determination.

The small community on Cocos (Keeling) Islands has continued to live and work on the islands for over 150 years. The Cocos Malay community primarily resides on Home Island and maintains strong cultural traditions and connections to the surrounding marine environment. For Cocos Malay people, the southern atoll lagoon, with its variety of accessible habitats and species, fringing ocean waters and the passage to North Keeling