Reef Guardian Council program
Bundaberg Regional Council is proud to be an official Reef Guardian Council.
The Reef Guardian Council program is a partnership between local government and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (Reef Authority) which recognises that local and regional approaches are central to protecting and managing the Reef and the communities it supports.
Local governments are key management partners as many of the threats to the Reef and heritage values arise outside of the Marine Park boundaries and the Reef Authority’s jurisdiction.
The program includes 20 participating councils between Bundaberg and Cooktown, covering an area of 317 000 square kilometres and a population of more than 1.1 million people.
Each council progresses a Reef Guardian Action Plan that outlines a variety of initiatives they are taking to contribute to Reef health and align with the Queensland and Australian Government objectives to improve the long-term outlook for the Reef, particularly the Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan.
Protecting the Reef starts by protecting our patch
Bundaberg prides itself on being the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. The coastline between Burnett Heads and Elliott Heads contains the most southerly fringing coral reefs on the Eastern Australian mainland and is home to a wide variety of fish species and colourful marine snails (nudibranchs). Just offshore, Lady Elliott and Lady Musgrave Islands provide some of the best snorkelling and diving sites in the world in protected coral cays.
Bundaberg Regional Council is involved in the Reef Guardian program to show its commitment to protecting the Great Barrier Reef in partnership with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
Council incorporates environmentally sustainable practices into the planning and management of our infrastructure and services. These include erosion compliance, coastal rehabilitation, water and sewerage treatment plant upgrades and public education programs.
Council also undertakes a wide range of initiatives that help address the key threats to the Reef including:
o Limiting the impacts of climate change – street tree planting program, landfill gas flaring and phytocapping, bioHub industrial park
o Reducing the impacts from land-based activities – illegal dumping program, wastewater treatment, biosolids re-use program, reducing urban glow projects, stormwater channel naturalisation projects
o Protecting, rehabilitating and restoring habitats – maintaining and enhancing parks and natural areas, pest species management, shoreline erosion management
o Reducing impacts from water-based activities - waterways rubbish removal program
o Conserving historic and cultural heritage – first nations strategy and reconciliation action plan, working with Reef Guardian Schools,
development planning and policy
Related information
• Learn about our local catchments
• Learn about the Great Barrier Reef
• Learn about threats to the Reef
• Reef Guardian Council Climate Change Snapshot
• Reef 2050 Plan
Reef Guardian Council grant projects
Projects identified in Reef Guardian Council Action Plans are being delivered via funding from the Australian Government to support the Reef’s long-term resilience and protect its future.
In recognition of our actions that contribute to the Great Barrier Reef’s resilience and the implementation of the Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan, in 2022 the Australian Government allocated $17.48M towards projects identified in Reef Guardian Council action plans ($920,000 for each of the 19 councils at the time).
Three council projects were approved under the Australian Government’s Reef Guardian Councils Program — Activating Local Council’s Reef Action Plans funding for Bundaberg Regional Council.
The projects are: