What
The area is considered an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Category 1A. This means that HIMI is a strict nature reserve. The key legislation that protects the Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve is the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act of 1999. The act, "Sets out requirements for environmental impact assessments, approvals for activities that could impact the environment, and the establishment of marine and terrestrial protected areas" (Constable et al., 2024, p. 91).
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Heard Island and the McDonald Islands possess persistent precipitation and considerable ice coverage (Commonwealth of Australia, 2014, p. 32). They also possess significant wetland vegetation areas. Due to the low level of human activity, the islands have only one non-native plant species (the grass Poa annua) that arrived by natural dispersion. The three threatened species found within the wetlands are the southern elephant seal, the southern giant petrel, and the Heard Island imperial shag (Constable et al., 2024, p. 52). The protected area is inhabited by several species of seal and birds. There are two endemic species of birds, the Heard Island cormorant and the Heard Island sheathbill. The deep ocean waters within the protected area are inhabited by whales, dolphins, icefish, skates, decapods, and toothfish (Commonwealth of Australia, 2014, p. 8).
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HIMI does not have any protected historical or cultural resources as the region has never been inhabited by humans. Only research is allowed in the area. There is no fishing, tourism, hunting, or recreation permitted within the Heard Island and McDonald Islands Marine Reserve (Constable et al., 2024, p. 97).
Seals (Curnock, 2014)
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Marine pollution in the form of accumulated plastic debris, oil spills and other pollution is a major threat to the biodiversity of HIMI. While there has been minimal human presence within HIMI, there have been research expeditions and military weather station instillations. These activities can still have a notable impact on the fragile ecosystem (Constable et al., 2024, p. 71). Finally, commercial fishing of Patagonian toothfish and mackerel icefish in the adjacent waters to the HIMI pose a threat to the biodiversity of the area. These species are considered top predators of the HIMI food web (Constable et al., 2024, p. 8-9). Changes in the populations of these fish could have devastating impacts to species within HIMI. For this reason, a major management issue for the protected area is commercial fishing in the surrounding waters.
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Penguins on the Beach (Curnock, 2014)