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

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World Heritage areas

Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area

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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Name: Great Barrier Reef
Area type: World Heritage area
Total area: 34,893,371 ha
% total Qld: 20.2%
Towns: Albany Island, Boyne Island, Escape River, Holloways Beach, Hull Heads, Monte Christo, Palm Island, Turkey Beach

Get more detailed information about Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area

Page table of contents
Catchment stories
Wetland observations
Wetland extents
Wetland extent changes
Australian Land Use and Management Classification (ALUMC)
Drainage divisions
Drainage basins
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
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

Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area wetland area by system 2019
System Area (ha) % wetlands area % total area
Total 87,826 100.0% 0.3%
Total excluding riverine and artificial/highly modified riverine 85,186 97.0% 0.2%
Artificial and highly modified 1,118 1.3% 0.0%
Intertidal (saltmarsh, saltflats, mangroves) (natural) 80,796 92.0% 0.2%
Intertidal (saltmarsh, saltflats, mangroves) (slightly modified) 95 0.1% 0.0%
Lacustrine (natural) 16 0.0% 0.0%
Lacustrine (slightly modified) 48 0.1% 0.0%
Palustrine (natural) 2,375 2.7% 0.0%
Palustrine (slightly modified) 741 0.8% 0.0%
Riverine 2,637 3.0% 0.0%

View wetland system extents for all World Heritage areas

Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area wetland area by habitat 2019
Habitat Area (ha) % wetlands area % total area
Total 73,379 100.0% 0.2%
Mangroves - Casuarina 82 0.1% 0.0%
Mangroves - other 56,353 76.8% 0.2%
Salt marsh and salt flats 13,861 18.9% 0.0%
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 616 0.8% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain wet heath swamp 81 0.1% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal non-floodplain grass, sedge, and herb swamp 196 0.3% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal other non-floodplain swamp 2 0.0% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain tree (Melaleuca and Eucalypt) swamp 1,272 1.7% 0.0%
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain grass, sedge, and herb swamp 895 1.2% 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 17 0.0% 0.0%
Unknown - Swamp - Arid and semi-arid 0 0.0% 0.0%
Unknown - Swamp - Coastal and sub-coastal 4 0.0% 0.0%

View wetland habitat area for all World Heritage areas

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

Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area 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 87,826 87,827 87,826 87,486 87,382 87,408 87,108 * 99.5%
Artificial and highly modified 1,118 1,118 1,114 786 693 704 0 n/a
Intertidal (saltmarsh, saltflats, mangroves) (natural) 80,796 80,797 80,812 80,813 80,798 80,815 80,749 100.1%
Intertidal (saltmarsh, saltflats, mangroves) (slightly modified) 95 95 95 82 82 82 0 n/a
Lacustrine (natural) 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 100.0%
Lacustrine (slightly modified) 48 48 48 48 53 47 0 n/a
Palustrine (natural) 2,375 2,375 2,376 2,376 2,377 2,379 2,716 87.4%
Palustrine (slightly modified) 741 741 726 726 726 726 0 n/a
Riverine 2,637 2,637 2,638 2,638 2,637 2,639 3,627 72.7%

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

metadata View 2019 wetland system extents for all World Heritage areas

metadata View 2017 wetland system extents for all World Heritage areas

metadata View 2013 wetland system extents for all World Heritage areas

metadata View 2009 wetland system extents for all World Heritage areas

metadata View 2005 wetland system extents for all World Heritage areas

metadata View 2001 wetland system extents for all World Heritage areas

metadata View pre-clear wetland system extents for all World Heritage areas

metadata View 2019/pre-clear wetland system extent percentages for all World Heritage areas

Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area 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 73,379 73,379 73,382 73,370 73,354 73,374
Mangroves - Casuarina 82 82 82 82 82 82
Mangroves - other 56,353 56,353 56,364 56,318 56,301 56,320
Salt marsh and salt flats 13,861 13,861 13,865 13,899 13,900 13,899
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 616 616 618 618 619 621
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 196 196 196 196 196 196
Coastal and sub-coastal other non-floodplain swamp 2 2 2 2 2 2
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain tree (Melaleuca and Eucalypt) swamp 1,272 1,272 1,273 1,273 1,273 1,272
Coastal and sub-coastal floodplain grass, sedge, and herb swamp 895 895 880 880 880 880
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 17 17 17 17 17 17
Unknown - Swamp - Arid and semi-arid 0 0 0 0 0 0
Unknown - Swamp - Coastal and sub-coastal 4 4 4 4 4 4

metadata View 2019 wetland habitat area for all World Heritage areas

metadata View 2017 wetland habitat area for all World Heritage areas

metadata View 2013 wetland habitat area for all World Heritage areas

metadata View 2009 wetland habitat area for all World Heritage areas

metadata View 2005 wetland habitat area for all World Heritage areas

metadata View 2001 wetland habitat area for all World Heritage areas

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

Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area land use
ALUMC code and description
Area (ha)
% total area
Total 342,113 1.0%
1.1 Nature conservation 115,425 0.3%
6.3 River 70,670 0.2%
6.5 Marsh/wetland 66,640 0.2%
1.3 Other minimal use 30,254 0.1%
2.1 Grazing native vegetation 17,261 0.0%
2.2 Production native forests 14,677 0.0%
6.6 Estuary/coastal waters 10,448 0.0%
1.2 Managed resource protection 8,920 0.0%
4.3 Irrigated cropping 1,797 0.0%
5.4 Residential and farm infrastructure 1,444 0.0%
5.3 Manufacturing and industrial 1,140 0.0%
5.5 Services 1,077 0.0%
6.2 Reservoir/dam 928 0.0%
5.6 Utilities 628 0.0%
5.7 Transport and communication 406 0.0%
6.1 Lake 155 0.0%
4.5 Irrigated seasonal horticulture 103 0.0%
3.3 Cropping 61 0.0%
5.9 Waste treatment and disposal 36 0.0%
4.4 Irrigated perennial horticulture 16 0.0%
5.8 Mining 16 0.0%
5.2 Intensive animal production 8 0.0%
3.6 Land in transition 4 0.0%
5.1 Intensive horticulture < 1 0.0%

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Drainage divisions info metadata

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Drainage basins info metadata

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

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Regional plans 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

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Conservation parks info metadata

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State forests info metadata

  • map Beecher State Forest
  • map Curtis Island State Forest
  • map Mount Stowe State Forest
  • map North Curtis Island State Forest

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Forest reserves info metadata

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Resources reserves info metadata

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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

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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

none

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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

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Wetland projects info metadata

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Area specific conceptual model case studies info metadata

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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

Name Construction year Structure types Stream name
map Rita Island 2009 Rock Ramp Burdekin Ananbranch

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Wildlife

Kingdom
Class
 Native Introduced Wetland
indicator
species		 Rare or
threatened
species		 All
TOTAL 8,234 873 754 442 9,107
Animals 1,446 52 347 145 1,498
Mammals 168 20 9 30 188
Birds 599 13 104 62 612
Reptiles 284 3 34 23 287
Amphibians 79 1 25 15 80
Ray-finned fishes 116 9 118 7 125
Cartilaginous fishes 31 0 31 5 31
Lampreys 1 0 1 1 1
Insects 161 6 25 2 167
Malacostracans 6 0 0 0 6
Arachnids 1 0 0 0 1
Bacteria 76 0 0 0 76
Chromists 81 0 0 0 81
Fungi 676 0 0 0 676
Plants 5,954 821 407 297 6,775
Protozoans 1 0 0 0 1

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-world-heritage-area

This page should be cited as:

Department of Environment, Science and Innovation, Queensland (2013) Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area — facts and maps, WetlandInfo website, accessed 17 April 2025. Available at: https://wetlandinfo.des.qld.gov.au/wetlands/facts-maps/world-heritage-area-great-barrier-reef/

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