About the zoning plan

The Great Sandy Marine Park is a State marine park, managed by Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS).

The Great Sandy Marine Park is an area of exceptional conservation value, surrounding the internationally significant K’gari (Fraser Island) World Heritage Area and encompassing the Great Sandy Strait, a Ramsar Wetland of International Significance. Eleven Fish Habitat Areas, declared under the Fisheries Act 1994 to protect habitat important for the State’s fisheries from the impacts of coastal development, are also present within the marine park and are managed by QPWS. There are six groups of First Nations peoples with a connection to the waters identified as the Great Sandy Marine Park: the Bailai, Gurang, Gooreng Gooreng, Taribelang Bunda peoples, the Butchulla people and the Kabi Kabi people. Read more about the marine park’s nature, culture and history.

Marine park management aims to ensure the Great Sandy Marine Park remains a diverse, resilient and productive ecological system that can be enjoyed and accessed in a sustainable way. Like all State marine parks, the Great Sandy Marine Park is a multiple use marine protected area established to support the long-term protection of the natural and cultural values of the area while providing opportunities for a range of uses, such as recreational and commercial fishing, boating, research, coastal works and tourism.

The Great Sandy Marine Park Zoning Plan provides the management detail for the protection of the natural, cultural and use values of the marine park and aims to balance its ecologically sustainable use. The zoning plan is the primary tool used to manage the marine park, supported by public education programs, signs, permits, compliance programs, routine surveillance and scientific monitoring.

The zoning plan:

• establishes and defines the location of a network of spatially defined zones which afford different levels of protection and use
• details special management arrangements for particular values or uses at specific locations, e.g. via designated area provisions
• includes entry or use provisions for each zone and designated area that specify activities that are either as of right or require permission
• applies offence provisions and penalties for non-compliance with zoning plan requirements.

Visit the maps and resources page for information about zoning maps.

Zoning plan history

The Great Sandy Marine Park was first established in 2006, amalgamating the two existing marine parks within the area – Woongarra and Hervey Bay Marine Parks – and adding additional areas of tidal land and waters between Baffle Creek and Double Island Point, to create the Great Sandy Marine Park. The first zoning plan commenced in 2006 and was remade in 2017 “as is”, to allow a statutory and comprehensive review to be undertaken. The current zoning plan, that commenced on 21 May 2024, is the outcome of this review.