Coastal Management

The Coastal Zone is defined as "coastal waters and all areas to the landward side of coastal waters in which their are physical features, ecological or natural processes or human activities that affect, or potentially affect, the coast or coastal resources". see Figure 1 below - coastal zone

Figure 1 - Coastal Zone

Coastal Management is a multi-stakeholder and complex discipline. The following stakeholders all have responsbilities for the management of various elements of the coastal zone:

• Regional NRM bodies that border the coastline e.g. Burdekin Dry Tropics NRM, and to the north of BDT, Terrain NRM and to the south, Mackay Whitsundays NRM etc
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• Queensland Parks and Wildlife Services (QPWS)
• Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA)
• Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (DPI&F)
• Local Government's that border the coast e.g. Townsville City Council, Thuringowa City Council, Palm Island Council, Burdekin Shire Council and Bowen Shire Council
• Natural Resources and Water (NRW)
• Community

In Queensland, the dominate piece of coastal legislation is the Coastal Protection and Management Act administered by EPA with its associated State Coastal Management Plan. The plan outlines Queensland's Coastal Policies in relation to coastal zone management and it covers the following topics:

• Coastal Use and Development
• Physical Coastal Processes
• Public Access to the Coast
• Water Quality
• Indigenous Tradtiional Woner cultural resources
• Cultural Heritage
• Coastal Landscapes
• Conserving Nature
• Coordinated Management
• Research and Development

Several other key pieces of legislation also apply to the coastal and marine environment, hense the complex, multi-disciplinary nature of Coastal Management. These include but are not limited to the following:

• Integrated Planning Act
• Nature Conservation Act 1992
• Vegetation Management Act 199
• Environmental Protection Act 1994
• Land Act 1994
• Water Act 2000
• Fisheries Act 1994
• Transport Operations (Marine Pollution) Act 1994
• Transport Operations (Marine Safety) Act 1994
• Marine Parks Act 1982
• Breat Barrier Reef Marine Park Act
• Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act