Ultimate Environmental Threshold (UET) method in a marine environment (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park in Australia)

Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, Puffinus pacificus, and development on Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia

“…The UET analysis assumed that prior to permanent human occupation in the 1960s, E grandis forest was the preferred habitat type for shearwater breeding areas. However, subsequent monitoring on Heron Island demonstrates that shearwaters nest in both the Pisonia forest and fringe areas bordering the forest (Rosier et al 1986, Kozlowski et al 1988). Based on the number of shearwater burrows on Heron Island, the Wedge-tailed Shearwater population had fluctuated around a mean of about 15 000 burrows for the 35 years to 1995.…”

“…In view of the fact that shearwater nesting areas (and those of other species) need to be protected (Kozlowski 1985), the Ultimate Environmental Threshold (UET) method was applied to Heron Island to determine areas from which development and activities should be excluded, if development was happening for the first time (Rosier et al 1986, Kozlowski et al 1988, Hill & Rosier 1989. VET evaluates the quality of environmental elements relative to the consequences of development and use.…”

Ultimate environmental threshold: An alternative tool for planning sustainable development

“…Attempts to apply the method in planning practice begun during the preparation of a regional plan for the Tatry National Park (TNP) in Poland (Baranowska-Janota and Kozlowski, 1981;Kozlowski, 1986) and were followed in Australia, in the Capricornia Section of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Kozlowski, 1986;Kozlowski et al, 1988;Rosier et al, 1986), in the Brisbane Forest Park (Charters, 1985;Roszkowska-Kuiken, 1987) and, more recently, on the North Stradbroke Island.…”

Designating Marine Reserves Is not Just an Ecological Process

“…Because the tourists picked a large number of coral reefs randomly in the past and lots of pollution water which was coming from agricultural lands with many harmful chemical residues was running into the marine, it destroyed the living environment of coral reefs. Moreover, the oil spill accidents always appeared in shallow waterway, which also resulted in marine pollution, and the coral reefs were disappearing at an alarming rate same as tropical rain forests (Kozlowski et al, 1988). As a consequence, the current reserve management authorities have taken strict measures to restrict the discharge of nearby agricultural using waters, enhance the safety of shallow water and actively support educational talks and publicities related to nature conservation for tourists in the entrance.…”