In 1975, the
Government of Australia enacted the
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975, which created the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, and defined what acts were prohibited on the Reef.
Joe Baker, who was involved in the bid to make the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage-listed in 1981, was a founding member of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. The Australian Government also has recognised the ecological significance of this Park by its inclusion in the nation's
Biodiversity Action Plan. The Government of Australia manages the reef through the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and in partnership with the
Government of Queensland, to ensure that it is widely understood and used in a sustainable manner. A combination of zoning, management plans, permits, education and incentives (such as
eco-tourism certification) is used in the effort to conserve the Great Barrier Reef. As many species of the Great Barrier Reef are migratory, many international, national, and interstate conventions or pieces of legislation must be taken into account when strategies for conservation are made. Some international conventions that the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park must follow are: the
Bonn Convention,
Ramsar Site (for the
Bowling Green Bay National Park site),
CITES,
JAMBA and
CAMBA. Some national legislation that the Park must follow are: Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development, National Strategy for the Conservation of Australia's Biological Diversity, Australia's Oceans Policy, National Strategy for the Conservation of Australian Species and Communities Threatened with Extinction. Some state legislation that the Park must follow are: Nature Conservation Act 1992, Marine Parks Act 1982, Fisheries Act 1994, Queensland Nature Conservation (Wildlife) Regulation 1994. For example, the Queensland Government has enacted several plans attempting to regulate fishing. The
East Coast Trawl Management Plan 1999 aimed to regulate trawling through limiting the times when trawling is permitted and restricting gear used. The
Fisheries (Coral Reef Fin Fish Fishery) Management Plan 2003 aimed at reducing the annual commercial catch to 1996 levels, disallowing fishing when the fish are
spawning and increasing the minimum legal size of fish. The Great Barrier Reef was selected as a
World Heritage Site in 1981. Up until 1999, there were four main zones in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. They were the "Far Northern", "Cairns", "Central" and "Mackay/Capricorn" sections. These zoning sections were created between 1983 and 1987. Another section, the "Gumoo Woojabuddee" section was declared in 1998. Each section had its own zoning plan. The
Great Barrier Marine Park Zoning Plan 2003 superseded all previous zoning plans, coming into effect on 1 July 2004. In July 2004, a new zoning plan was brought into effect for the entire Marine Park, and has been widely acclaimed as a new global benchmark for the conservation of
marine ecosystems. The rezoning was based on the application of systematic conservation planning techniques, using the
MARXAN software. On 1 July 2004 the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park became the largest protected sea area in the world when the Australian Government increased the areas protected from extractive activities (such as
fishing) from 4.6% to 33.3% of the park. , the
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Monument is the largest protected marine area in the world. The management committee draws inspiration from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority's management strategies. The current method of zoning is called the "Representative Areas Program", which chooses "typical" areas of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. They can then be protected in "Green Zones" (no-take zones). The
Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area has been divided into 70
bioregions, of which 30 are reef bioregions, and 40 are non-reef bioregions. In 2006, a review was undertaken of the
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975. Some recommendations of the review are that there should be no further zoning plan changes until 2013, and that every five years, a peer-reviewed Outlook Report should be published, examining the health of the Great Barrier Reef, the management of the Reef, and environmental pressures. In early 2007, GBRMPA was one of three nominees for the Destination Award in the
World Travel and Tourism Council's Tourism for Tomorrow Awards. On 3 April 2010, the
Shen Neng 1, a Chinese ship carrying 950 tonnes of oil, ran aground, causing the
2010 Great Barrier Reef oil spill. In 2012, legislation was introduced which compelled developers to deposit money into the Reef Trust. Professor Tiffany Morrison argues that this has made it easier for developments to be approved in the region. The week before 21 July 2013, on the second day of the biennial joint training
exercise Talisman Saber, two American
AV-8B Harrier fighter jets launched from aircraft carrier
USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) dropped four bombs, weighing a total 1.8 tonnes (4,000 pounds), into more than 50 metres (164 ft) of water. None exploded and no coral was damaged. People such as scientists, conservationists, developers, managers, tourism entrepreneurs and politicians have had major influences on the history of the reef. In 2015, the Australian Government and Reef Ecologic Pty Ltd conducted a coral reef training course to build capacity to protect coral reefs. ==Threats==