The Facts

Discover what makes the largest coral reef on earth so special, the challenges it’s facing, and learn about the solutions we’re championing to protect its future.

64,000

jobs rely on the Great Barrier Reef

$56b

value as a social, economic, and iconic asset

$6.4b

given back to the Australian economy annually

2m

visitors every year

#UNESCO World Heritage site

One of the 7 natural wonders of the world.

Largest living structure on the planet, so big it’s visible from space.
The size of about 70 million football fields or the size of Japan or Italy. It eclipses the world number two, the Caribbean’s Belize Reef, which is a mere 290 km long.
World Heritage Listed in October 1981.
Spans 348,000 km², which is slightly more than the 344,400 km² Great Barrier Reef Marine Park area because it also includes some 980 islands, internal waters, intertidal areas and other state waters.
7% of the World Heritage area is made up of coral reefs. The rest is an extraordinary variety of marine habitats, ranging from shallow inshore areas – such as seagrass, mangroves, sand, algal and sponge gardens, and inter-reefal communities – to deep oceanic areas more than 250 km offshore.
Inshore waters average a depth of around 35 metres while on outer reefs the plunge is more than 2,000 metres.
November, spawning season, is when the corals get busy reproducing. Resembling an underwater snowstorm, the exact timing of the annual spawning release is linked to water temperature and phases of the moon.

#Its unique local residents

1,625

species of fish

600+

types of hard and soft corals

215

species of birds

133

varieties of sharks and rays

30

species of whales and dolphins

6 of 7

global species of marine turtle

#Its vast and varying habitats

2,900

individual reefs

600

continental islands

300

coral cays

150

inshore mangrove islands

#Visit with purpose

Travellers come from across the globe to experience this natural wonder, with Tourism contributing in a major way to the Reef's valuation at $56 Billion to Australia's economy. We are intensely passionate about the Reef and want you to experience and contribute to its future, in a sustainable way.