Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2018L00327:front:0:p66
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2018L00327
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 186964–189960

The Coral Sea Marine Park was designed to protect representative examples of the region's ecosystems and biodiversity in accordance with the Goals and principles for the establishment of the National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas in Commonwealth waters (ANZECC, 1998),
The Marine Park is significant because it contains habitats, species and ecological communities associated with the Cape Province, Northeast Transition, Northeast Province, Central Eastern Transition, Kenn Province and Kenn Transition bioregions. It includes three key ecological features: reefs, cays and herbivorous fish of the Marion Plateau; reefs, cays and herbivorous fish of the Queensland Plateau; and the Tasmantid Seamount Chain.
The Coringa-Herald and Lihou Reefs and Cays Ramsar site is located in the Marine Park. The site was listed under the Ramsar Convention in 2002 and is a wetland of international importance under the EPBC Act. An Ecological Character Description that sets out the Ramsar listing criteria met by the site, the key threats and knowledge gaps, is available on the Department's website. The site comprises near-pristine oceanic islet and reef habitats that are representative of the Coral Sea. The undisturbed sandy habitats at several islets are nesting sites for globally endangered green and hawksbill turtles, while foreshores, forest and shrubland support important breeding populations of seabirds including terns, boobies, and tropicbirds.
Coral reef habitat supports distinct communities of marine flora and fauna, including a relatively rich diversity of crustacean and hydroid fauna, and significant feeding habitat for migratory seabirds. Black marlin aggregate to spawn in the north-west of the Marine Park. Marine algal communities are a particularly important feature, frequently covering a greater area than the corals.
The Marine Park includes habitats connecting to and complementing the adjacent Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
Natural values
The Marine Park includes examples of ecosystems representative of:
  * Cape Province—a deep-water valley and ridge feature in the north of the Marine Park, with water depths of between 1000 and 4000 m.
  * Northeast Transition—a deep-water feature consisting of troughs, plateau, reefs and carbonate mud in the north of the Marine Park, in waters deeper than 1000 m.
  * Northeast Province—a large area of reefs, trenches, troughs, terraces and aprons in the central part of the Marine Park. It contains cays, atolls, islets and associated reef communities.
  * Central Eastern Transition—an area in the south of the Marine Park featuring slope, canyon, and terrace, in waters between 3000 and 4000 m deep.
  * Kenn Province—an area in the south-west of the Marine Park featuring seamounts and plateaux, in waters between 1000 and 3000 m deep.
  * Kenn Transition—an area in the south-west of the Marine Park featuring seamounts.
Key ecological features of the Marine Park are:
  * Reefs, cays and herbivorous fish