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Queensland Government
WetlandInfo   —   Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation

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Drainage basins

Coral Sea drainage basin

Access wetland mapping in PDF and KML format by selecting the desired 100K map tile below or download the data via the Queensland Government Information Service.

The below map is for visual representation purposes only. For more detailed mapping, please download the boundary KML.

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Download boundary KML (KMZ, 0.7 MB) metadata

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Name: Coral Sea
Area type: Drainage basin
Total area: 140,549 ha
% total Qld: 0.1%
Towns: Albany Island, Palm Island, Roko Island
Page table of contents
Catchment stories
Wetland observations
Wetland extents
Wetland extent changes
Australian Land Use and Management Classification (ALUMC)
Drainage divisions
Drainage sub-basins
Regional natural resource management (NRM) bodies
Local government areas
100K map tiles
Climate zones
Bioregions
Biogeographic subregions
IBRA bioregions
IBRA subregions
Bioregional assessment areas
Marine meso-scale bioregions
Marine provincial bioregions
Regional plans
World Heritage areas
Ramsar internationally important wetlands
DIWA nationally important wetlands
National parks
Marine parks (Queensland)
Study areas
Report cards
Conservation parks
State forests
Forest reserves
Resources reserves
Timber reserves
Fish habitat areas
Coastal management district
Nature refuges
Freshwater biogeographic provinces
Aquatic Conservation Assessments (AquaBAMM) and others
Wetland (aquatic ecosystem) type—conceptual models
Wetland (aquatic ecosystem) type—management profiles
Groundwater dependent ecosystem type—conceptual models
Healthy Land and Water conceptual models
Water resource planning areas
Aquatic ecosystem monitoring programs
Point source monitoring
Wetland soil indicator case studies
Wetland management case studies
Wetland projects
Area specific conceptual model case studies
Paddock to Reef (P2R) report cards
Water Quality Improvement Plan catchments
EPP (Water) scheduled environmental values and water quality objectives
Shorebird zones
Biopassage structures
Related legislation/policies
Wildlife

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Catchment stories info

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Wetland observations

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Wetland extents info metadata

Based on wetland mapping version 6.0

Display areas in

Coral Sea drainage basin wetland area by system 2019
System Area (ha) % wetlands area % total area
Total 52,194 100.0% 37.1%
Total excluding riverine and artificial/highly modified riverine 52,121 99.9% 37.1%
Artificial and highly modified 39 0.1% 0.0%
Intertidal (saltmarsh, saltflats, mangroves) (natural) 50,831 97.4% 36.2%
Intertidal (saltmarsh, saltflats, mangroves) (slightly modified) 70 0.1% 0.0%
Lacustrine (natural) 16 0.0% 0.0%
Lacustrine (slightly modified) 42 0.1% 0.0%
Palustrine (natural) 1,114 2.1% 0.8%
Palustrine (slightly modified) 8 0.0% 0.0%
Riverine 73 0.1% 0.1%

View wetland system extents for all drainage basins

Coral Sea drainage basin wetland area by habitat 2019
Habitat Area (ha) % wetlands area % total area
Total 47,623 100.0% 33.9%
Mangroves - Casuarina 183 0.4% 0.1%
Mangroves - other 38,143 80.1% 27.1%
Salt marsh and salt flats 8,177 17.2% 5.8%
Arid and semi-arid saline lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid floodplain lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid other non-floodplain lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain clay plan lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid permanently inundated lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain rock lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain sand (window) lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain sand (perched) lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain soil lake 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid saline swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid floodplain tree swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid floodplain shrub swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid floodplain grass, sedge and herb swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain tree swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain shrub swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain grass, sedge and herb swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid other non-floodplain swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Arid and semi-arid Great Artesian Basin fed spring swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain tree (Melaleuca and Eucalypt) swamp 572 1.2% 0.4%
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain wet heath swamp 81 0.2% 0.1%
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain grass, sedge, and herb swamp 235 0.5% 0.2%
Coastal and sub-coastal other non-floodplain swamp 2 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain tree (Melaleuca and Eucalypt) swamp 216 0.5% 0.2%
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain grass, sedge, and herb swamp 14 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain wet heath swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal other floodplain swamp 0 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal tree (palm) swamp 1 0.0% 0.0%
Unknown - Swamp - Arid and semi-arid 0 0.0% 0.0%
Unknown - Swamp - Coastal and sub-coastal 0 0.0% 0.0%

View wetland habitat area for all drainage basins

Disclaimer

Areas do not include marine or estuarine waters but do include estuarine wetland vegetation
(e.g. mangroves and tidal flats).

All statistics are approximate and generated based on data transformed to a customised Albers equal-area projection, thus allowing wetland extent change for different regions of Queensland to be comparable.

Areas may change over time as mapping approaches improve.

Totals may not match the sum of individually displayed figures due to the rounding of displayed figures.

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Wetland extent changes

Coral Sea drainage basin wetland extent change by system
System 2019 area
(ha)		 2017 area
(ha)		 2013 area
(ha)		 2009 area
(ha)		 2005 area
(ha)		 2001 area
(ha)		 pre-clear area
(ha)		 2019/pre-clear
percentage
Total 52,194 52,198 52,200 52,197 52,197 52,199 52,213 * 99.9%
Artificial and highly modified 39 39 39 39 39 39 0 n/a
Intertidal (saltmarsh, saltflats, mangroves) (natural) 50,831 50,835 50,837 50,834 50,834 50,834 50,963 99.7%
Intertidal (saltmarsh, saltflats, mangroves) (slightly modified) 70 70 70 70 70 70 0 n/a
Lacustrine (natural) 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 100.0%
Lacustrine (slightly modified) 42 42 42 42 42 42 0 n/a
Palustrine (natural) 1,114 1,114 1,114 1,114 1,114 1,115 1,154 96.5%
Palustrine (slightly modified) 8 8 8 8 8 8 0 n/a
Riverine 73 73 73 73 73 73 79 92.6%

* Total 2019/pre-clear percentage excludes artificial and highly modified

metadata View 2019 wetland system extents for all drainage basins

metadata View 2017 wetland system extents for all drainage basins

metadata View 2013 wetland system extents for all drainage basins

metadata View 2009 wetland system extents for all drainage basins

metadata View 2005 wetland system extents for all drainage basins

metadata View 2001 wetland system extents for all drainage basins

metadata View pre-clear wetland system extents for all drainage basins

metadata View 2019/pre-clear wetland system extent percentages for all drainage basins

Coral Sea drainage basin wetland extent change by habitat
Habitat 2019 area
(ha)		 2017 area
(ha)		 2013 area
(ha)		 2009 area
(ha)		 2005 area
(ha)		 2001 area
(ha)
Total 47,623 47,627 47,630 47,627 47,627 47,629
Mangroves - Casuarina 183 183 183 183 183 183
Mangroves - other 38,143 38,147 38,149 38,146 38,146 38,146
Salt marsh and salt flats 8,177 8,177 8,177 8,177 8,177 8,177
Arid and semi-arid saline lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid floodplain lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid other non-floodplain lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain clay plan lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid permanently inundated lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain rock lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain sand (window) lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain sand (perched) lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain soil lake 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid saline swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid floodplain tree swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid floodplain shrub swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid floodplain grass, sedge and herb swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain tree swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain shrub swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid non-floodplain grass, sedge and herb swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid other non-floodplain swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arid and semi-arid Great Artesian Basin fed spring swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain tree (Melaleuca and Eucalypt) swamp 572 572 572 572 572 574
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain wet heath swamp 81 81 81 81 81 81
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain grass, sedge, and herb swamp 235 235 235 235 235 235
Coastal and sub-coastal other non-floodplain swamp 2 2 2 2 2 2
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain tree (Melaleuca and Eucalypt) swamp 216 216 216 216 216 216
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain grass, sedge, and herb swamp 14 14 14 14 14 14
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain wet heath swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal other floodplain swamp 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coastal and sub-coastal tree (palm) swamp 1 1 1 1 1 1
Unknown - Swamp - Arid and semi-arid 0 0 0 0 0 0
Unknown - Swamp - Coastal and sub-coastal 0 0 0 0 0 0

metadata View 2019 wetland habitat area for all drainage basins

metadata View 2017 wetland habitat area for all drainage basins

metadata View 2013 wetland habitat area for all drainage basins

metadata View 2009 wetland habitat area for all drainage basins

metadata View 2005 wetland habitat area for all drainage basins

metadata View 2001 wetland habitat area for all drainage basins

Disclaimer

Areas do not include marine or estuarine waters but do include estuarine wetland vegetation
(e.g. mangroves and tidal flats).

All statistics are approximate and generated based on data transformed to a customised Albers equal-area projection, thus allowing wetland extent change for different regions of Queensland to be comparable.

Areas may change over time as mapping approaches improve.

Totals may not match the sum of individually displayed figures due to the rounding of displayed figures.

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Australian Land Use and Management Classification (ALUMC) metadata

Coral Sea drainage basin land use
ALUMC code and description
Area (ha)
% total area
Total 136,299 97.0%
1.1 Nature conservation 44,230 31.5%
6.5 Marsh/wetland 28,297 20.1%
1.3 Other minimal use 28,069 20.0%
1.2 Managed resource protection 25,743 18.3%
2.1 Grazing native vegetation 7,298 5.2%
5.4 Residential and farm infrastructure 1,016 0.7%
5.5 Services 721 0.5%
6.3 River 368 0.3%
5.7 Transport and communication 207 0.1%
6.6 Estuary/coastal waters 91 0.1%
6.2 Reservoir/dam 59 0.0%
6.1 Lake 59 0.0%
5.9 Waste treatment and disposal 46 0.0%
5.6 Utilities 36 0.0%
5.3 Manufacturing and industrial 30 0.0%
5.8 Mining 16 0.0%
5.2 Intensive animal production 7 0.0%
3.6 Land in transition 5 0.0%
3.4 Perennial horticulture 2 0.0%

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Drainage divisions info metadata

none

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Drainage sub-basins info metadata

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Regional natural resource management (NRM) bodies info metadata

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Local government areas info metadata

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100K map tiles info metadata

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Climate zones info metadata

  • map Equatorial
  • map Subtropical
  • map Tropical

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Bioregions info metadata

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Biogeographic subregions info metadata

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IBRA bioregions info metadata

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IBRA subregions info metadata

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Bioregional assessment areas info metadata

none

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Marine meso-scale bioregions metadata

  • map Central Reef (CR)
  • map East Cape York (ECY)
  • map Lucinda-Mackay Coast (LMC)
  • map Mackay-Capricorn (MC)
  • map Pompey-Swains (PS)
  • map Ribbons (RBN)
  • map Shoalwater Coast (SC)
  • map Torres Strait (TS)
  • map Tweed-Moreton (TM)
  • map West Cape York (WCY)
  • map Wet Tropic Coast (WTC)

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Marine provincial bioregions metadata

  • map Cape Province
  • map Central Eastern Shelf Transition
  • map Northeast Shelf Province
  • map Northeast Shelf Transition
  • map Northern Shelf Province

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Regional plans info metadata

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World Heritage areas info metadata

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Ramsar internationally important wetlands info metadata

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DIWA nationally important wetlands info metadata

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National parks info metadata

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Marine parks (Queensland) info metadata

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Study areas metadata

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Report cards metadata

none

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Conservation parks info metadata

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State forests info metadata

none

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Forest reserves info metadata

none

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Resources reserves info metadata

none

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Timber reserves info metadata

none

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Fish habitat areas info metadata

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Coastal management district info metadata

  • map Available (all have been combined since February 2012)

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Nature refuges info metadata

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Freshwater biogeographic provinces info metadata

none

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Aquatic Conservation Assessments (AquaBAMM) and others info metadata

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Wetland (aquatic ecosystem) type—conceptual models info metadata

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Wetland (aquatic ecosystem) type—management profiles info metadata

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Groundwater dependent ecosystem type—conceptual models info metadata

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Healthy Land and Water conceptual models info metadata

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    Water resource planning areas info metadata

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    Aquatic ecosystem monitoring programs info metadata

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    Point source monitoring info metadata

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    Wetland soil indicator case studies info metadata

    none

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    Wetland management case studies info metadata

    none

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    Wetland projects info metadata

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    Area specific conceptual model case studies info metadata

    none

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    Paddock to Reef (P2R) report cards info metadata

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    Water Quality Improvement Plan catchments info metadata

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    EPP (Water) scheduled environmental values and water quality objectives info metadata

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    Shorebird zones info metadata

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    Biopassage structures info metadata

    none

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    Wildlife

    Kingdom
    Class
    		 Native Introduced Wetland
    indicator
    species    		 Rare or
    threatened
    species    		 All
    TOTAL 7,401 810 682 345 8,211
    Animals 1,354 52 299 133 1,406
    Mammals 153 19 9 31 172
    Birds 599 13 103 59 612
    Reptiles 259 3 31 16 262
    Amphibians 68 1 27 12 69
    Ray-finned fishes 83 9 90 6 92
    Cartilaginous fishes 28 0 28 3 28
    Insects 155 7 11 4 162
    Malacostracans 8 0 0 2 8
    Arachnids 1 0 0 0 1
    Bacteria 77 0 0 0 77
    Chromists 86 0 0 0 86
    Fungi 613 0 0 0 613
    Plants 5,271 758 383 212 6,029

    Note: Wildlife statistics are based on information that has been submitted to the DETSI WildNet database and converted to a 10km² grid. The grid information has been intersected with the mapping polygons to determine the species lists. Click here to view the species grid metadata.

    Information from WildNet can also be accessed via Wildlife Online and WetlandMaps.

    Rare or threatened includes species listed as extinct, extinct in the wild, critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable or conservation dependent under either the Nature Conservation Act or Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act

    Disclaimer: While every care is taken to ensure the accuracy of this product, the Queensland Government and Australian Government make no representations or warranties about its accuracy, reliability, completeness or suitability for any particular purpose and disclaim all responsibility and all liability (including without limitation, liability in negligence) for all expenses, losses, damages (including indirect or consequential damage) and costs which might be incurred as a consequence of reliance on the product, or as a result of the product being inaccurate or incomplete in any way and for any reason.

    AreaType-basin

    This page should be cited as:

    Department of Environment, Science and Innovation, Queensland (2020) Coral Sea drainage basin — facts and maps, WetlandInfo website, accessed 17 April 2025. Available at: https://wetlandinfo.des.qld.gov.au/wetlands/facts-maps/basin-coral-sea/

    BESbswy