Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2018L00321:front:0:p79
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2018L00321
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 229888–232836

this area.
Key ecological features of the Marine Park are:
  * Lord Howe Seamount Chain—a chain of submerged volcanoes running 1000 km north–south, the seamount chain includes Lord Howe Island and Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs. These isolated, oceanic reefs support a diverse range of tropical and temperate marine life, including both warm-water and cold-water corals a­nd an abundance of fish species. This diversity is a result of the effect of the East Australian Current on the reefs as it exposes the area to its warm waters, in contrast to the surrounding cooler ocean.
  * Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs—small, isolated, oceanic platforms reefs that occur on top of the volcanic seamounts of the Lord Howe seamount chain. The lagoons of both reefs are important areas for populations of black cod and the Galapagos shark.
  * Tasman Front and eddy field—a region that separates the warm, nutrient-poor waters of the Coral Sea from the cold, nutrient-rich waters of the Tasman Sea, providing increased nutrients and plankton aggregations, and enhanced productivity that attracts mobile species such as turtles, cetaceans, tuna and billfish.
The Marine Park supports a range of species, including species listed as threatened, migratory, marine or cetacean under the EPBC Act. Biologically important areas within the Marine Park include breeding and foraging habitat for seabirds, and a migratory pathway for humpback whale.
Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs Ramsar site
The reefs of the Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs Ramsar site form the southernmost open-ocean reef platform in the world and support internationally significant populations of seabirds and shorebirds.
Cultural values
The marine environment around Lord Howe Island has long held significance among Lord Howe Islanders. A unique community and culture has developed by those who have visited and settled the island over time.
Across Australia, Indigenous people have been sustainably managing their sea country for tens of thousands of years. At the commencement of this plan, there is limited information about the cultural significance of this Marine Park to Indigenous people due to its remote location.
Heritage values
World heritage
Parts of the Marine Park are within the world heritage-listed Lord Howe Island Group, which was listed as an area of outstanding universal value under the World Heritage Convention in 1982. The Lord Howe Island Group comprises Lord Howe Island, Admiralty Islands, Mutton Bird Islands, Ball's Pyramid, and associated coral reefs and marine environments. It includes spectacular landscapes, volcanic mountains, and diverse low-lying rainforests, palm forests and grasslands. There are a large number of species of native plants, of which many are endemic to Lord Howe Island, and colonies of endangered seabirds.
National heritage
The Lord Howe Island Group was included in the National Heritage List in 2007.
Historic shipwrecks
The Marine Park