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Macquarie Island, or “Macca” as it is often called, is a Tasmanian State Reserve managed by the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service. It was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1997 as it is an island of unique natural diversity, a site of major geoconservation significance and one of the truly remarkable places on earth.
Macquarie Island lies in the southwest corner of the Pacific Ocean, about half-way between New Zealand and Antarctica, at 54°30S, 158°57E. Politically, it is part of Tasmania, Australia since 1900 and became a Tasmanian State Reserve in 1978, in 1997 a World Heritage Site. It was a part of Esperance Municipality until 1993, when the municipality was merged with other municipalities to Huon Valley. The island is home to the entire Royal Penguin population on earth during their annual nesting season. Ecologically, it is part of the Antipodes Subantarctic Islands tundra ecoregion.
Since 1948 the Australian Antarctic Division has maintained a permanent base, the Macquarie Island Station, on the isthmus at the northern end of the island at the foot of Wireless Hill. The population of the base, the island's only human inhabitants, usually varies from 20 to 40 people over the year.
Macquarie Island has outstanding universal value for two reasons. First, it provides a unique opportunity to study, in detail, geological features and processes of oceanic crust formation and plate boundary dynamics, as it is only place on earth where rocks from the earth’s mantle (6 kilometres below the ocean floor) are being actively exposed above sea level. These unique exposures include excellent examples of pillow basalts and other extrusive rocks. Second, its remote and windswept landscape of steep escarpments, lakes, and dramatic changes in vegetation provides an outstanding spectacle of wild, natural beauty complemented by vast congregations of wildlife including penguins and seals.
Macquarie Island provides an outstanding spectacle of wild, natural beauty with huge congregations of penguins and seals populating what has been described as a small speck thrust up into the vast Southern Ocean. The island lies in latitudes known as the ‘Furious Fifties’ because of the frequency of very strong winds and stormy seas, which have sculpted the island. A coastal terrace supports vast waterlogged and heavily vegetated areas, forming a mire based on deep peat beds known as ‘featherbed’. This is framed by steep escarpments which rise spectacularly to a plateau surface dotted with innumerable lakes, tarns and pools. The continual westerly winds, which increase in force as they rise over the barrier of the island, and changes in topography result in dramatic changes in the vegetation cover which can vary from lush grassland to sparse feldmark within the space of a few metres.
Among the most aesthetically appealing features of the island are the vast congregations of wildlife, particularly penguins, during the breeding season. The breeding population of Royal Penguins (Eudyptes schlegeli), a species endemic to Macquarie Island and nearby Bishop and Clerk Islets, is estimated at over 850,000 pairs, one of the greatest congregations of seabirds in the world. The breeding population of King Penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus), estimated at around 150,000–170,000 breeding pairs in 2000, is still expanding. As the King Penguin chicks do not leave the vicinity of the nest for a year, they survive the rigours of winter by huddling together on the windy and snow-swept beaches. Four species of albatross nest on steep and rugged cliffs and are easily viewed when nesting. Elephant Seals (Mirounga leonina) also form impressive colonies during the breeding season.
The property is of sufficient size and contains the necessary elements to demonstrate the key aspects of the geological processes of Macquarie Island and the outlying Bishop and Clerk and Judge and Clerk islets. All major elements of the Macquarie deformational zone are included in the property.
Human impacts, commencing on Macquarie Island in 1810, have resulted in major changes to the biota of the reserve. The commercial exploitation of seals and penguins, together with the introduction of alien species, resulted in the extinction of some native species and major declines in others. Resultant modifications to vegetation associations and nutrient cycles severely impacted on some species while benefiting others.
Active management programmes, commenced in the 1960s, are aimed at stopping and/or reversing some of these trends. Some of these programmes have resulted in very rapid changes, including the eradication of feral cats and wekas from the island. However, the recovery of natural ecosystem processes as a result of these management programmes may take centuries. Macquarie Island is remote and well protected and managed.
Macquarie Island lies in the southwest corner of the Pacific Ocean, about half-way between New Zealand and Antarctica, at 54°30S, 158°57E. Politically, it is part of Tasmania, Australia since 1900 and became a Tasmanian State Reserve in 1978, in 1997 a World Heritage Site. It was a part of Esperance Municipality until 1993, when the municipality was merged with other municipalities to Huon Valley. The island is home to the entire Royal Penguin population on earth during their annual nesting season. Ecologically, it is part of the Antipodes Subantarctic Islands tundra ecoregion.
Since 1948 the Australian Antarctic Division has maintained a permanent base, the Macquarie Island Station, on the isthmus at the northern end of the island at the foot of Wireless Hill. The population of the base, the island's only human inhabitants, usually varies from 20 to 40 people over the year.
Macquarie Island has outstanding universal value for two reasons. First, it provides a unique opportunity to study, in detail, geological features and processes of oceanic crust formation and plate boundary dynamics, as it is only place on earth where rocks from the earth’s mantle (6 kilometres below the ocean floor) are being actively exposed above sea level. These unique exposures include excellent examples of pillow basalts and other extrusive rocks. Second, its remote and windswept landscape of steep escarpments, lakes, and dramatic changes in vegetation provides an outstanding spectacle of wild, natural beauty complemented by vast congregations of wildlife including penguins and seals.
Macquarie Island provides an outstanding spectacle of wild, natural beauty with huge congregations of penguins and seals populating what has been described as a small speck thrust up into the vast Southern Ocean. The island lies in latitudes known as the ‘Furious Fifties’ because of the frequency of very strong winds and stormy seas, which have sculpted the island. A coastal terrace supports vast waterlogged and heavily vegetated areas, forming a mire based on deep peat beds known as ‘featherbed’. This is framed by steep escarpments which rise spectacularly to a plateau surface dotted with innumerable lakes, tarns and pools. The continual westerly winds, which increase in force as they rise over the barrier of the island, and changes in topography result in dramatic changes in the vegetation cover which can vary from lush grassland to sparse feldmark within the space of a few metres.
Among the most aesthetically appealing features of the island are the vast congregations of wildlife, particularly penguins, during the breeding season. The breeding population of Royal Penguins (Eudyptes schlegeli), a species endemic to Macquarie Island and nearby Bishop and Clerk Islets, is estimated at over 850,000 pairs, one of the greatest congregations of seabirds in the world. The breeding population of King Penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus), estimated at around 150,000–170,000 breeding pairs in 2000, is still expanding. As the King Penguin chicks do not leave the vicinity of the nest for a year, they survive the rigours of winter by huddling together on the windy and snow-swept beaches. Four species of albatross nest on steep and rugged cliffs and are easily viewed when nesting. Elephant Seals (Mirounga leonina) also form impressive colonies during the breeding season.
The property is of sufficient size and contains the necessary elements to demonstrate the key aspects of the geological processes of Macquarie Island and the outlying Bishop and Clerk and Judge and Clerk islets. All major elements of the Macquarie deformational zone are included in the property.
Human impacts, commencing on Macquarie Island in 1810, have resulted in major changes to the biota of the reserve. The commercial exploitation of seals and penguins, together with the introduction of alien species, resulted in the extinction of some native species and major declines in others. Resultant modifications to vegetation associations and nutrient cycles severely impacted on some species while benefiting others.
Active management programmes, commenced in the 1960s, are aimed at stopping and/or reversing some of these trends. Some of these programmes have resulted in very rapid changes, including the eradication of feral cats and wekas from the island. However, the recovery of natural ecosystem processes as a result of these management programmes may take centuries. Macquarie Island is remote and well protected and managed.
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