Reef Islands Initiative

#The Project

The Reef Islands Initiative is a $AUD 14 million, 10-year program focussed on establishing a network of climate change refuges to protect critical habitats on four Great Barrier Reef islands.

With the Great Barrier Reef under increasing pressure from a combination of local threats and global climate change, reef islands and their adjoining reefs play an increasingly important role as habitat refuges, or ‘refuge arks’, to the thousands of animal species that call them home. Many species now face an uncertain future in the face of global climate change, making it even more imperative for these unique habitat refuges to be protected.

Lady Elliot Island, located on the southern Great Barrier Reef, was the first new climate change refuge ‘ark’ included in the Reef Island Refuge Initiative that commenced in 2018. An on-ground action program is currently being developed to expand on and accelerate the award-winning environmental work already underway, which will further enhance the island’s self-resilience.

Implemented by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Traditional Owners, Research organisations and Industry leaders, the Reef Islands initiative is the largest habitat rehabilitation project of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

#The Islands

Initial prioritisation based on an assessment of the Great Barrier Reef islands undertaken by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority have identified a number of island groups as preliminary priority islands based on current condition and understanding:

The Foundation launched this new program in 2018, starting with the iconic Lady Elliot Island.

#An astonishing transformation

Past and present custodians of Lady Elliot Island have worked tirelessly to transform the former guano mining site back to its former natural state. The Reef Islands Initiative will not only expand on this incredible work but accelerate the island’s recovery—boosting the island’s resilience to climate change and other stresses, while creating a haven for precious Reef wildlife and plants.