Coringa-Herald National Nature Reserve is a former

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

in Australia’s

Coral Sea Islands Territory Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secr ...

that was incorporated into the new Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve in December 2012. The former nature reserve together with the

Lihou Reef National Nature Reserve Lihou Reef National Nature Reserve is a former marine protected area covering an area of 8440 km2 in the Australian Coral Sea Islands Territory that was incorporated into the new Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve in December 2012 ...

is part of the Coral Sea Reserves Ramsar Site. Its extent is also within the Coringa-Herald Reefs Important Bird Area.

Description

The reserve lies to the east of the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

and covers an area of 8,860 km², most of which is open water. It contains three pairs of islets and

cay A cay ( ), also spelled caye or key, is a small, low-elevation, sandy island on the surface of a coral reef. Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, including in the Caribbean and on the Great ...

s, the Herald Cays, comprising North East and South West Cays; the Coringa Islets, comprising Chilcott and South West Islets; and the Magdelaine Cays, comprising South East Cay and North West Islet. The pairs rise steeply from separate platform reef systems, each representing a distinct stage in reef formation, varying in size from 16 to 37 ha, and making a total land area of 124 ha. Each cay has a fringing reef that is fully exposed to the influences of ocean currents and swells. The islets are formed of coral sand, rocks and coral rubble and rise no more than about five meters above sea-level. South-East Magdelaine Cay is the largest; parts of it, as well as North-East Herald Cay, have thick

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s of ''

Pisonia grandis ''Pisonia grandis'', the grand devil's-claws, is a species of flowering tree in the ''Bougainvillea'' family, Nyctaginaceae. Description The tree has broad, thin leaves, smooth bark and bears clusters of green sweet-smelling flowers that matu ...

'' and ''

Cordia subcordata ''Cordia subcordata'' is a species of flowering tree in the borage family, Boraginaceae, that occurs in eastern Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, northern Australia and the Pacific Islands (including Hawaii). The plant is known by a variety ...

'' trees. Apart from North-West Magdelaine Islet which lacks vegetation,

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns and ...

es and '' Heliotropium foertherianum ''

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s grow on the other islets.Anon (2001). The 124 ha land area of the cays has been recognised by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

as the Coringa-Herald Reefs IBA because of its importance as a breeding site for

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same envir ...

s. It supports over 1% of the world populations of

wedge-tailed shearwater The wedge-tailed shearwater (''Ardenna pacifica'') is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It is one of the shearwater species that is sometimes referred to as a muttonbird, like the sooty shearwater of New Zealand and ...

red-footed boobies The red-footed booby (''Sula sula'') is a large seabird of the booby family, Sulidae. Adults always have red feet, but the colour of the plumage varies. They are powerful and agile fliers, but they are clumsy in takeoffs and landings. They are f ...

lesser frigatebird The lesser frigatebird (''Fregata ariel'') is a seabird of the frigatebird family Fregatidae. At around 75 cm (30 in) in length, it is the smallest species of frigatebird. It occurs over tropical and subtropical waters across the Indian ...

red-tailed tropicbird The red-tailed tropicbird (''Phaethon rubricauda'') is a seabird native to tropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. One of three closely related species of tropicbird (Phaethontidae), it was described by Pieter Boddaert in 1783. Superfi ...

s and black noddies.

References

Notes

Sources

* Coral Sea Islands Former protected areas of the Australian government Important Bird Areas of Australian External Territories 2012 disestablishments in Australia Protected areas disestablished in 2012 {{Australia-protected-area-stub