Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2015L01389:body:0:p21
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2015L01389
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 59442–62339

on North Keeling Island has been surveys and assessment of data associated with the red-footed booby population. These surveys have been conducted regularly since 1986. This ongoing program has become significant for monitoring one of the park's key values and the ecological character of the Ramsar site.
Following the relocation of 39 Cocos buff-banded rails to Horsburgh Island in April 2013, monitoring of the translocated population will be paramount to determine the viability of establishing and maintaining a second population of this endemic threatened species. Efforts to establish a second viable population of the buff-banded rail, and associated research and monitoring, are key actions of the National Recovery Plan for the Buff-banded Rail. This has included monitoring of the park's population, which is stable with an estimated population in 2013 of around 1,000.
The Round Island petrel (Pterodroma arminjoniana) was recorded on North Keeling in 1986 by Stokes and Goh (1987). There have been no sightings in Pulu Keeling National Park since the 1986 record and there is insufficient evidence to show that the Round Island petrel is a frequent visitor to or breeding on the island. Extensive searches undertaken in the years following its initial discovery failed to detect any presence of the petrel.
Other research and survey projects have included:
    * repeat analysis of red-footed booby survey methodology and data
    * turtle monitoring, with a focus in the southern Cocos Keeling Islands, with only irregular surveys occurring in the park.
    * Cocos (Keeling) Islands quantitative baseline surveys for core marine reserves and a biosphere reserve on the southern atoll lagoon.
In 2009 the Island Wide Survey was first conducted, to establish baseline data on the presence of yellow crazy ants, weeds and other biodiversity data; it was repeated in 2012 to monitor changes and trends. Satellite imagery was also used to map vegetation on the island, supported by ground-truthing. The collection of this data has assisted in the weed control program and will be invaluable for future monitoring.
The park provides opportunities for broader research projects that consider the regional and global context of the park and its biota. For example, ecological research on reefs and North Keeling Island, where human activity is controlled and minimal, provides good research opportunities to study largely intact reef systems. Monitoring to assess the status of and detect any changes to the marine environment, particularly those associated with human activity, is a high priority to facilitate proper management of the marine area of the park. Monitoring of marine habitats needs to be long term so that effects of natural disturbances such as cyclones, outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish or El Niño events, may be accurately recorded, and to help assess the impacts of