The Main Use Zone provides suitable areas in which access and support operations can be conducted and in which long-term facilities can be located, while confining the potential environmental impacts associated with these activities to areas which have been the focus of most past and current activities on land within the Reserve.
Main Use Zones are located at Atlas Cove and at Spit Bay, allowing for the conduct and support of activities at the north-west and south-east ends of Heard Island. Each of these areas contains sites and/or items of cultural heritage significance, and activities in the zone will be regulated to prevent undue interference or damage to these.
The Visitor Access Zone provides for appropriate management of low impact, short-term, land-based visitor activities in the Reserve, and seeks to balance conservation goals with the desire to maximise the experience and enjoyment of visitors in the brief time they are likely be ashore.
As weather conditions usually differ dramatically around the island, and tourist ships are usually on tight itineraries, there are three areas within the Visitor Access Zone at widely distributed parts of the island (Atlas Cove in the north-west, Spit Bay in the south-east and Long Beach in the south) to improve the chances of visitors being able to get ashore.
The areas within the Visitor Access Zone provide relatively safe landing sites, albeit not in all conditions, and access to a range of attractions within approximately one hour’s walk of these landing sites.
Attractions within, or in visible close proximity to, these low-lying areas include heritage sites, extensively vegetated areas, wildlife colonies and a range of spectacular landscape features. Only low impact access, such as beach landings by vessels or helicopter landings at designated points, and low-impact activities (such as walking, photography and wildlife observation) are allowed in the Visitor Access Zone in accordance with the provisions of the management plan.
The Heritage Zone, contained within the Atlas Cove Main Use Zone, is an area warranting special protection because of its significance in the early history of ANARE, particularly the occupation of the Atlas Cove Station site from 1947-1955.
The Heritage Zone encompasses the culturally significant remains of early and pre-ANARE buildings on the western side of Ephemeral Creek including the buildings or building remains shown on the map (e.g. Admiralty Hut, Recreation Hut).
The Heritage Zone restricts activities that have the potential to destroy or degrade heritage values, including activities such as the construction of new facilities which might impinge on the visual context of the location.
The Wilderness Zone comprises all those land areas in the Reserve not included in the Main Use Zone, Visitor Access Zone, Heritage Zone or Restricted Zone.
The Wilderness Zone provides for the management of human activities so as to maintain the relatively undisturbed stated and wilderness qualities of the majority of the terrestrial component of the Reserve.
Only activities that will not cause long-term impacts to the natural qualities of the Reserve will be permitted in the Wilderness Zone, with access primarily being allowed for scientific research, environmental monitoring and management activities, and only in accordance with the Australian IUCN reserve management principles for the IUCN category strict nature reserve.
Note: The term ‘wilderness’ is used here as a general descriptor and is not intended to refer to the IUCN category of wilderness area. At the time of preparing this Plan all areas of the Reserve are assigned to the highest IUCN category available under the EPBC Act - strict nature reserve.
The Restricted Zone comprises those areas with environmental values that are highly sensitive to the potential impacts of human activities for which it is particularly desirable to conserve existing minimal levels of human disturbance, or where other concerns such as visitor safety are paramount. Entry and access to such areas will therefore be restricted and tightly controlled.
Azorella Peninsula, to the north of the Atlas Cove Main Use Zone and Visitor Access Zone, is a particularly sensitive area containing lava tubes and sinkholes, the entrance to some of which are highly unstable and erodible. The roofs of some of the very shallow tubes are also thin and susceptible to collapse.
As well as the safety and conservation issues relating to these volcanic features, the cushion plants and other vegetation on the Peninsula are vulnerable to human impact, and significant numbers of both South Georgian diving petrels and Antarctic prions also nest in the vegetated and non-vegetated parts of the Peninsula respectively.
While significant stands of cushion plants, some lava tubes and burrowing bird colonies are found elsewhere on Heard Island, the close proximity of Azorella Peninsula to Atlas Cove, the main area of historic and continuing human activity on the Island, and the difficulty of avoiding significant impacts from a low level of visitation necessitate the imposition of strict restrictions on access to the Peninsula.
The McDonald Island group and other small offshore rocks and shoals have been infrequently, if ever, visited and warrant the highest level of protection to maintain their undisturbed state.
The Inner Marine Zone provides for the management, and in some cases prohibition, of activities in the near shore (< 12 nm) marine areas of the Reserve, to ensure protection of the coastal environment of the islands, the near shore foraging areas of wildlife, and the values of that marine area.
Transport activities in the Inner Marine Zone, including vessel and small craft use and any discharges, will be regulated to prevent or minimise environmental impacts.
The outer boundary of the Inner Marine Zone also coincides with the outer boundary of the Territory, the HIMI World Heritage Area and the proposed HIMI Ramsar wetland area.
The Outer Marine Zone provides for the management of activities in the marine areas of the Reserve that extend beyond the Inner Marine Zone.
Due to the greater distance separating the Outer Marine Zone from the islands, regulation of human activities in this zone will be less strict than the Inner Marine Zone, while still sufficient to provide for the protection of the values of the Reserve.
Entry to, and passage through, the Outer Marine Zone by a vessel will not require a permit.
Areas of the HIMI exclusive economic zone (EEZ) have been declared a conservation zone under the EPBC Act and are currently are being assessed for possible later inclusion in the Reserve.
Activities in any of these areas later included in the Reserve will be subject to the provisions of the EPBC Act and Regulations and the relevant prescriptions of this Plan. Any areas incorporated into the Reserve will be managed in a manner consistent with the Australian IUCN reserve management principles for the category to which those areas are assigned.
Click on the small maps below to look at larger (PDF) maps of the zones:
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Map of the marine zones in the Reserve (Inner Marine Zone, Outer Marine Zone) plus the Conservation zone.
(Figure 2 from the Management Plan - PDF 120 KB) |
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Map of the terrestrial zones in the Reserve. Click on the maps below for greater detail of the zones in the Atlas Cove, Spit Bay and Long Beach areas.
(Figure 3 from the Management Plan - PDF 385 KB) |
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Map of the Atlas Cove Main Use Zone, the Atlas Cove Visitor Access Zone and the Heritage Zone.
(Figure 4 from the Management Plan - PDF 144 KB) |
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Map of the Spit Bay Main Use Zone and the Spit Bay Visitor Access Zone.
(Figure 5 from the Management Plan - PDF 327 KB) |
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Map of the Long Beach Visitor Access Zone.
(Figure 6 from the Management Plan - PDF 333 KB) |
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