Islands off Cape Melville (100116)
Australia, Australasia
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Global KBA criteria: D1a
Year of last assessment: 2022
National site name: Islands off Cape Melville
Central coordinates: Latitude: -14.1206, Longitude: 144.6257
System: marine, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 0 to 5
Area of KBA (km2): 9.09688
Protected area coverage (%): 100.00
KBA classification: Global
Legacy site: No
Site details
Site description: This KBA comprises of three cays off Cape Melville in the northern Great Barrier Reef. This KBA merges two former IBAs: Stapleton Island IBA and Wilson Reef IBA, for protection of globally significant Brown booby breeding colonies. Stapleton Island is about 40 km east of Cape Melville. It is an elongated narrow cay, about 500 m x 100 m at its widest. The cay is comprised of coral sand and reef rubble rising to a central sand ridge 5 m above sea-level. The outer fringe has a strand community of herbs and the sand ridge is dominated by Lepturus grass and stunted shrubs. The two low-lying unnamed cays on Davie and Tydeman Reefs (Tydeman and Davie Cay informally) are unvegetated and situated approximately 30 km north of Cape Melville on the Cape York Peninsula.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This KBA hosts a globally significant Brown Booby Sula leucogaster nesting colony. Site counts have met or exceeded 1% of the global population size in at least two thirds of the seasons for which adequate data are available, triggering under Criterion D1a.
Additional biodiversity: Lesser Crested Terns nest in large numbers on Stapleton, meeting the 1% threshold count once (in 2008). 3700 pairs of common noddies are estimated to nest across these 3 islands (less than 1% threshold). Stapleton has locally significant counts of Australian pelicans and is the second most diverse seabird rookery in the Great Barrier Reef
Manageability of the site: These Islands are less than 60 km apart, which is closer than several other existing Great Barrier Reef KBAs. This KBA is managed by Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority under their joint 'Field Man
Other site values: Mutumui are the Traditional Owners of this region
Delineation rationale: The KBA boundary consists of 1 km radius circles centred over each island/cay, positioned to maximise the proportion of surrounding shallow reef covered.
Habitats
Land use: The KBA is currently managed by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service in collaboration with Traditional Owners and other parties for a variety of uses, but primarily conservation of the natural and cultural values of this World Heritage Area. Uses include: tourism, education, scientific research and cultural heritage / traditional use. The following Great Barrier Reef Marine Park use Zones cover this KBA: Habitat Protection (IUCN VI) & Marine National Park (IUCN II).
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Forest | 5 | |
| Marine Coastal/Supratidal | 15 | |
| Marine Neritic | 75 |
Threats
| Threat level 1 | Threat level 2 | Threat level 3 | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Climate change & severe weather | Habitat shifting & alteration | Ongoing | |
| Climate change & severe weather | Storms & flooding | Ongoing | |
| Human intrusions & disturbance | Recreational activities | Ongoing | |
| Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases | Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases | Ongoing | |
| Pollution | Garbage & solid waste | Ongoing | |
| Pollution | Industrial & military effluents | Oil spills | Only in the future |