Please Note: Rabbits and rats are posing a severe threat to World Heritage values on Macquarie Island, as research reveals widespread damage to terrestrial ecosystems. These impacts include devastating effects upon native fauna, flora, geomorphology, natural landscape values and nutrient recycling systems.
A Plan for the Eradication of Rabbits and Rodents on Subantarctic Macquarie Island has been developed to achieve the restoration of Macquarie Island’s biodiversity and natural systems. The operational phase of the project is now under way. See our web pages for further details.
On 3 December, 1997 Macquarie Island was listed as a World Heritage Area - the second Tasmanian World Heritage Area. Macquarie Island is a site of outstanding geological and natural significance on a world scale.
The island is one of only a very few in the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean where fauna in the region can breed. Around 3.5 million seabirds and 80,000 elephant seals arrive on Macquarie Island each year to breed and moult. Fur seals are beginning to re-establish populations on the island after nearly being exterminated in the early 19th century.
More information about Macquarie Island can be found on the Australian Antarctic Division's web site, at
www.aad.gov.au/default.asp?casid=7151