Background
The Heard Island and McDonald Islands group lies around 4,000 kilometres from mainland Australia and approximately 1,700 kilometres from Antarctica. The islands are among the most isolated places on Earth. Their extreme remoteness has protected them from many of the ecological impacts seen elsewhere, leaving them free from introduced species and preserving intact ecosystems that provide invaluable scientific and environmental insight. The islands support millions of penguins, thousands of seals, unique seabird species, slow-growing coral systems and extensive tussock grasslands. Heard Island is dominated by an active volcano known as Big Ben, which is also Australia’s highest mountain peak. Because the islands remain so ecologically intact, they are considered globally important for understanding natural evolutionary and climate processes in relatively undisturbed environments.
The Campaign
The Australian Government first nominated the islands for UNESCO World Heritage listing in 1991 due to their outstanding universal natural values. In 1996, the Wilderness Society lobbied the Federal Coalition to support the renomination of the islands as part of its election commitments. Within weeks of the Coalition’s election victory, Environment Minister Robert Hill supported the process. In 1997, UNESCO granted World Heritage status to the islands. Protection efforts have continued in the decades since. In 2024 and 2025, the Albanese Government significantly expanded marine protections surrounding the islands, nearly quadrupling the protected area. The Australian Antarctic Division continues to oversee stewardship, scientific management and conservation of the islands while monitoring the growing impacts of climate change across Antarctic and subantarctic regions.
Legacy
The Heard Island and McDonald Islands remain one of the last truly intact island ecosystems on Earth. Their protection represents a long-term commitment to preserving one of the planet’s rarest examples of an isolated, functioning natural system largely untouched by modern industrial pressures.
“I vividly recall being at Long Beach, on Heard Island, with wind gusting up to 100 kilometres an hour blasting the tops off the waves. For the penguins and fur seals coming and going through the surf it was a normal day, in no way exceptional. For me, struggling to keep my feet in the gale, it was an awesome, almost primeval experience.” — Alec Marr, former Wilderness Society National Forest Campaigner