Executive summary: coastal zone
Status 2007
Queensland's coastal zone is home to around 85% of the state's population. The coastal environment is significantly affected by human activities such as agriculture, urban development, shipping, tourism, industry and fishing. South-east Queensland and the districts around Gladstone, Mackay, Townsville and Cairns are under particular pressure. In developed coastal areas, the extent of natural terrestrial communities is limited and the condition of these areas is poor. The resulting habitat degradation and fragmentation and loss of species have significant impacts on biodiversity. Turtle, dugong and dolphin mortality through commercial fishing activity, shark nets and the effects of other human activities continues to be of concern.
More than 7000 trading ships (moving 200 million tonnes of cargo) visit Queensland ports each year. Ports are adopting new or upgraded environmental management systems to manage increasing activity. Nonetheless, Queensland's largest oil spill to date occurred at the Port of Brisbane during this reporting period.
Good water quality is essential for maintaining the health of coastal ecosystems. Estuaries and coastal waters in south-east Queensland exhibit a wide range of condition, from very good in the Noosa estuary to poor in the Brisbane and Logan estuaries. Water quality was generally good for the Great Barrier Reef lagoon. However, high concentrations of nutrients occur episodically in plumes of flooding rivers and these give rise to short-lived phytoplankton blooms. In general, the intensity and frequency of algal blooms in recent years appear to be increasing in coastal areas. Short-term observations indicate that changes in the treatment of point source discharges have led to improvements in water quality. The overall discharge loads of nitrogen and phosphorus from point sources have reduced slightly since 2001-02.
Acid sulfate soils along the Queensland coast cover an estimated 2.3 million hectares. South-east Queensland has 8200 hectares of known parcels of acidified land, the Fitzroy-Curtis Coast has 4650 hectares and the Mackay Whitsunday region has 1200 hectares. Although acid 'hotspots' have been observed elsewhere along the coast, their extent and location have not been mapped. Pressure for further development on these soils continues to intensify as population increases along the coast.
Major contributing factors
An increasing coastal population and associated land use changes are key sources of pressure on coastal resources. Population growth has increased the demand for coastal development and use of coastal resources for other human activities. Urban expansion and property booms, new tourist facilities, agricultural expansion and intensification, marine and land infrastructure for transport and waste disposal, and commercial industries contribute to economic growth in Queensland. However, the cumulative impact of these activities places severe stresses on coastal biodiversity and threatens the ability of the coastal zone to continue supporting Queenslanders' wellbeing.
I ron sulfides present in acid sulfate soils form sulfuric acid when exposed to oxygen in the air. With rain, the sulfuric acid finds its way into adjacent drains, swamps and estuaries, affecting aquatic life. Acid sulfate soils disturbance in Queensland has been linked to major fish kills and outbreaks of red spot disease in fish, and to the increased incidence of disease-carrying, acid-tolerant mosquitoes. It can be a major factor in the deoxygenation of coastal waterways, leading to foul smells, the accumulation of black oozes in drains and the depositing of red iron floc on river banks, plants and boats. The acid may also attack concrete, steel and road infrastructure, leading to faster failure rates and higher maintenance costs. If acid sulfate soils are adequately assessed and managed, the impacts of their disturbance can be avoided. However, already acidified soils and waterways require high levels of expertise to fix the problem and are commonly extremely expensive to safely remediate, and their impacts can persist for decades.
Fishing, hunting and collecting, if not managed properly, can have adverse impacts on the plants and animals that live in the estuarine and marine environment. The harvesting of finfish, crabs, prawns, squid, scallops and bugs throughout Queensland is undertaken mainly by the commercial and recreational sector, while Indigenous communities harvest these and other species such as dugong and turtle for customary and subsistence purposes.
The water quality and ecological condition of Queensland's estuaries and coastal waterways are integrally related to their surrounding and upstream land use activities. Diffuse and point source discharges of nutrients, sediments and contaminants such as heavy metals and synthetic agricultural and industrial chemicals pose a significant risk to the ecological condition of coastal and estuarine waterways. With continued population growth and development in the coastal zone, it can be expected that more water will be needed and more wastewater will be generated.
The major pressure on the functioning of open coastlines and tidal estuaries is the loss of natural buffer areas to coastal development. However, when developments occur in these buffer zones, they are subject to erosion and coastal hazards such as storm surges, and the need to construct structures to protect human life and property increases greatly.
The global issue of climate change, associated with rising atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, has potentially far-reaching consequences for coastal areas. There are possible impacts on sensitive coastal ecosystems, such as wetlands, dunes and reef systems, as well as aquatic species. A sea level rise of one metre is plausible by the end of the century under rapid rates of warming. This would impose significant cost on the state's low-lying coastal areas. Further costs will be imposed as a consequence of the extreme rainfall predicted to accompany climate change, which will make coastal communities more vulnerable to flooding and erosion.
Policy response
In a climate of escalating property values, speculative purchases and expanding coastal settlements, regulation through land use planning is one avenue for controlling the pressures associated with population growth. The State Coastal Management Plan (2001) provides a framework to manage future urban development on the coast through the consolidation of existing urban areas, and the management of finite ecological, economic and social values in Queensland's coastal zone. Regional Coastal Management Plans operate in conjunction with the state plan and include region-specific policies as well as applying State Coastal Plan policies to specific geographic sites, and defining the boundaries of areas such as control management districts, key coastal sites and coastal resources. The statutory regional plans for South-east Queensland and Far North Queensland (under development) will guide growth and development in these regions over the next 20 years or more.
As part of ClimateSmart 2050, the government will develop a comprehensive State Planning Policy for climate change which will take into account, among other things, the risks and impacts of increased sea levels on coastal development.
The Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, in consultation with major stakeholders, has developed comprehensive management arrangements under the Fisheries Act 1994, Fisheries Regulation 1995 and Fisheries Management Plans with the aim of managing fishing pressure in a particular fishery in accordance with the principles of ecologically sustainable development. In this reporting period, there has been a move to ecosystem-based fisheries management which deals with the aggregate management of all fisheries-related activities within an ecosystem or bioregion. For example, Declared Fish Habitat Areas protect inshore and estuarine fish habitats that are important for sustaining local and regional fisheries. While turtle, dugong and dolphin interactions occur with commercial fisheries and the shark control program, mitigation measures are being implemented progressively to reduce unintended consequences of these activities. In combination with fisheries closures, the introduction of turtle exclusion devices in prawn nets has minimised the impact of trawling on sea turtle populations. The potential for trawling to disturb seabed communities outside high trawl effort areas has been reduced through the recent increase in no-fishing areas as part of marine park zonings.
The Queensland Tourism Strategy charts an integrated whole-of-government and industry approach to achieving sustainable tourism targets. Recognising the significance of the environment in the Queensland experience is a central theme of the strategy. The Queensland Ecotourism Plan 2003-2008 provides a framework for planning, developing, and marketing Queensland's nature-based tourism industry. The Great Barrier Reef remains Queensland's premier tourist destination. Tourism in the Great Barrier Reef is governed by a wide range of international conventions and federal and state legislation including the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Zoning Plan 2003.
Current and future efforts to meet the challenge of steadily declining water quality involve the integration of coastal and catchment management, setting and assessing water quality targets, and working with all levels of government, communities and industries to reduce and recycle wastewater. Under the Environmental Protection Agency's licensing procedures, part of the Environmental Protection Act and the EPP (Water), standards for the quality of point source discharges continue to be tightened and extended across Queensland.
Significant upgrades of wastewater treatment plants by local government involving advanced biological nutrient removal, filtration and recycling are planned and being implemented in Queensland. Urban local governments and the development industry are working to implement best practice water-sensitive urban design to manage water quality and quantity. This is tackling some of the urban diffuse pollutant issues but more attention needs to be paid to the broader challenges being dealt with through a range of actions largely implemented by Natural Resource Management bodies with close support from the Queensland and Commonwealth governments.
Initiatives such as the Great Barrier Reef Water Quality Protection Plan, the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality, the Natural Heritage Trust and regional partnerships such as the Healthy Waterways Partnership are involved in developing catchment-specific nutrient targets to drive management actions to reduce nutrient and sediment loads that may have adverse impacts on estuarine and marine ecosystems. In partnership with the community and other agencies, the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries undertakes monitoring of seagrasses in coastal waters to contribute to improved understanding of the health of nearshore ecosystems. Many local governments are actively involved with community-based monitoring programs providing data and raising community awareness. However, further monitoring is needed to improve our knowledge of coastal water quality and its effect on aquatic resource condition (including fisheries resources and fish habitats).
The Coastal Protection and Management Act 1995 recognises the diverse range of coastal resources and values in the coastal zone and provides a comprehensive framework for their coordinated management, incorporating the principles of ecologically sustainable development. Declared Fish Habitat Areas, managed under the Fisheries Act 1994 and the Fisheries Regulation 1995, protect inshore and estuarine fish habitats that are important for sustaining local and regional fisheries. The Vegetation Management Act 1999 regulates the clearing of vegetation to conserve terrestrial remnant vegetation, prevent the loss of biodiversity and maintain ecological processes.
Queensland Government planning policies and regulations require best practice management of acid sulfate soils and are reducing the risk of environmental damage and future remediation costs. To support best management practice, the government has prepared chapters of the Queensland Acid Sulfate Soils Technical Manual. Chapters include technical guidelines to assess and manage acid sulfate soils, such as the Soil Management Guidelines for Acid Sulfate Soils 2002, Acid Sulfate Soils Laboratory Methods Guidelines 2004 and the Legislation and Policy Guide 2004. These tools are the basis upon which local government manages this issue through the development assessment process. In coastal areas under development pressure, the government is continuing to identify and map the location and severity of acid sulfate soils to support state and local government planning processes aimed at avoiding the environmental impacts associated with disturbance. Further work is required to identify the location of acid sulfate soils to prevent the impacts associated with disturbance. Currently, no statewide statistics are available on the total area of disturbed acid sulfate soils or the number of hotspots causing acidification of waterways.
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Last reviewed 12 May 2011
Last updated 9 February 2009