Access keys | Skip to primary navigation | Skip to secondary navigation | Skip to content | Skip to footer |
Problems viewing this site
Environmental management > Coast and oceans > Great Barrier Reef

Raine Island Corporation

Location of Raine Island
Raine Island Corporation

Location of Raine Island

Queensland map

  • the nesting site for the world’s largest remaining population of the vulnerable green turtle (Chelonia mydas);
  • the most significant seabird rookery in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area;
  • the site of the oldest European structure in tropical Australia, a stone beacon constructed in 1844 under the order of the British Admiralty;
  • a location where significant guano mining operations were undertaken in the 1890’s;
  • a region where the remains of more than 30 shipwrecks can be found, including HMS "Pandora", the vessel associated with the capture of HMS "Bounty" mutineers;
  • a place of significance to Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders; and
  • a Nature Refuge.

As turtles and seabirds are ground-nesting and easily disturbed by people, access to Raine Island and Moulter and Maclennan Cays is restricted and usually limited to those involved in specific conservation and management research.

Raine Island Corporation
The Raine Island Corporation was established under the Meaker Trust (Raine Island Research) Act 1981 to foster and ensure the conservation and management of the natural and cultural heritage resources of Raine Island, Moulter and Maclennan Cays and the surrounding seas.

The Raine Island Corporation was a self-funding statutory organisation, established with a generous donation by the trustees of the Benjamin Meaker Charities Trust (Jersey). Income from investments was used to fund the Corporation and its activities.

The Corporation was responsible for the administration of all funds applied in research, conservation and management of Raine Island, Moulter and Maclennan Cays and the surrounding seas.

In November 2004, however, the Environment Protection and other Legislation Amendment Bill 2004 was passed in State Parliament to repeal the Meaker Trust (Raine Island Research) Act 1981. This had followed a request from descendants of the Meaker family who had for some time expressed concern about the extent of funds needed to administer the trust, reducing the research funding available annually for the Raine Island Corporation. They felt strongly that pooling the funds for use by a larger and more recognised environmental group would increase the conservation value of these dollars.

The Raine Island Corporation Board and the Queensland Government agreed to allow the release of the Meaker Trust funds, which were transferred to the Australian Rainforest Foundation on 4 February 2005. The Australian Rainforest Foundation agreed to manage the funds for research, education and rehabilitation of Australian tropical rainforest and continue funding the Brian King Award for bird research. Turtle research on Raine Island will be funded until June 2007.

Raine Island, Moulter Cay and MacLennan Cay Site Management Arrangements

Last updated: 22 November 2007



Raine Island Corporation Research Report