Christmas Island National Park
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Christmas Island National Park Australia |
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IUCN category II (national park)
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 Christmas Island National Park
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| Nearest town or city | Flying Fish Cove |
| Coordinates | 10°25′S 105°40′E / 10.417°S 105.667°ECoordinates: 10°25′S 105°40′E / 10.417°S 105.667°E |
| Established | 1980 |
| Area | 85 km2 (32.8 sq mi) |
| Managing authorities | Department of the Environment and Heritage |
| Website | Christmas Island National Park |
Christmas Island National Park is a national park occupying most of Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean southwest of Indonesia. The park is home to many species of animal and plant life, including the eponymous red crab, whose annual migration sees around 100 million crabs move to the sea to spawn. Christmas Island is the only nesting place for the endangered Abbott's booby and critically endangered Christmas Island frigatebird, and the wide range of other endemic species makes the island of significant interest to the scientific community.
Concerns were expressed in the early 1970s about the effect of phosphate mining on the flora and fauna of Christmas Island. A particular focus was on the habitat of Abbott's booby (Papasula abbotti), which appeared in danger of extinction. In 1974 a governmental committee examined the environmental impact of mining and other commercial activities and advised on measures to protect the island. The committee's recommendation that an area of the island be set aside for conservation was implemented in a series of measures culminating in the establishment of the Christmas Island National Park on 21 February 1980 under the terms of the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975.
The park initially covered the south-west corner of the island, and was extended in 1986 and 1989 to include most of the rainforest on the island. Today the park covers approximately 85 km2 (33 sq mi), or 63% of the island.
Christmas Island consists of an uplifted limestone cap metamorphosed from coral reefs overlying more ancient volcanic andesite bedrock. The underlying seamount lies some 500 km (310 mi) southwest of Indonesia, and the isolation by the abyssal zone has led to endemism amongst the marine ecosystem. The park's boundaries extend 50 m (160 ft) beyond the low water line. Approximately 46 kilometres (29 mi) of the island's 73-kilometre (45 mi) shoreline is within the park limits.
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