Mission & Management

Opulent Routes. (n.d.). Christmas Island National Park [Visitor exploring Christmas Island]. Retrieved from https://www.opulentroutes.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/national-park-ci-1000x658.jpg

Involvement

In 1615, Master of the Thomas, Richard Rowe traveling the Indian Ocean sighted this beautiful island but did not stop to explore the island. Then in 1643 Captain William Mynors of the British East India Company landed on the island on Christmas Day and so forth has been named Christmas Island. After the island was named, Christmas Island remained uninhabited until in 1887 when the men of the HMS Egeria decided to explore the island. In doing so they found and collected soil and rocks which were analyzed by John Murray, a British naturalist, who discovered the soil and rocks were almost purely phosphate of lime. Even after this discovery, the British annexed the Christmas Island in 1888 and the first settlement was established at Flying Fish Cove by George Clunies-Ross of Cocos (Keeling) Island. Clunies-Ross and Murray were granted a 99 year lease in 1891 to mine phosphate and cut timber. The lease was transferred over to the Christmas Island Phosphate Company, Ltd, owned by the lessees, after 6 years. In the 1900s Christmas Island was incorporated into the British crown colony of the Straits Settlements with its capital in Singapore. Japanese occupied Christmas Island in World War II and in 1948 the governments of New Zealand and Australia acquired the interests and assets of the Christmas Island Phosphate Company, but the British Phosphate Commission managed the operations for both governments. Until Christmas Island became an Australian territory in 1958 (Wallenfeldt, 2025).

The population of Christmas Island is very diverse and to learn more head over to the History & Heritage tab. Most of the residents of Christmas Island have been traditionally employees of the Christmas Island Phosphate Company. The Christmas Island Phosphate Company was owned by Australia Government until 1990 which is now privately owned. Since the 1880s Christmas Island's economy depended on the mining and extraction of phosphate and the shipment of the product to Australia and New Zealand. This started to change in the 1990s when the phosphate reserves started to become exhausted, so tourism became the source of the economy of Christmas Island (Wallenfeldt, 2025).

The Australian Government specifically the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment, and Water is in charge of the management and upkeep of Christmas Island. The Australian governor- general appoints an administrator of Christmas Island. The administrator has a staff for secretariat, education, postal, police, radio, and harbor duties. Christmas Island National Park is the only declared nature conservation on Christmas Island and fulfills an important role in preserving the natural features of the island. The features include, the islands uniquely structured and large tropical rainforest habitat, unique wildlife (which includes 254 endemic species, 165 species occurring nowhere else in Australia, and 110 species listed as threatened, migratory, or marine), large populations of diverse Indian Ocean seabirds, diverse and abundant populations of land crab, fringing coral reefs and waters (which support marine species, 600 fish species, and hybrid fish), island terraces and cave systems (specifically the anchialine cave system), and the Dales and Hosnies Spring wetland (which is listed under the Ramsar Convention). The national park plays an important role in local economy, helping to support tourism businesses and activities. Commercial tourism activities that have minimal impacts on the park are encouraged (Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. (n.d.), Retrieved 2025).

Christmas Island Management Plan (2014-2024)