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Articles on Great Barrier Reef

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Crown of Thorns is one threat on the reef, but it’s not the only threat. Flickr/Nemo's great uncle

Should offsets fund the Coalition’s reef plan?

On Monday, the Coalition announced its plan for the Great Barrier Reef, including a A$40m trust-fund to target threats to the Reef such as Crown of Thorns starfish and runoff from agriculture. The promises…
Calling something protected isn’t enough to protect it. AAP Image/Australian Institute for Marine Science

Governments are not protecting the Great Barrier Reef

Announcements last week of the escalating damage to the Great Barrier Reef confirm Australia’s most famous and intensely managed Marine Protected Area has not been properly protected. UNESCO’s recent review…
Our environment is an important part of Australia’s national identity. Shawn Smith

Using national pride to protect our environment

Australia’s natural resources are reaching a crisis point as they struggle to support and sustain our lifestyles. But while degradation of these systems continues, research suggests the level of concern…
The poor condition of the Reef means we have to find better ways to improve water quality. Flickr/FarbenfroheWunderwelt

Great Barrier Reef report in: time to make polluters pay

Last week, the Australian and Queensland governments released a reef report card which found the overall condition of the reef in 2010-2011 was “poor”. This was compared to its “moderate” condition in…
World Heritage won’t mean anything if nothing’s done about climate change. Flickr/350.org

A reprieve, but the Great Barrier Reef remains on death row

The Great Barrier Reef may have been spared the indignity of being listed as a World Heritage Area “in danger” this week, but the Reef’s woes are just beginning. There are 962 properties on the world heritage…
Better land management and reforestation will protect the coral reefs of Madagascar from the damage caused by sedimentation. Flickr/Frontierofficial

Manage the land to protect the reefs

The world’s coral reefs are both beautiful and rich in biodiversity, supporting a number of marine species. However the negative effects of climate change and human activity have begun to take their toll…
Are there viable investment alternatives to funding coal and energy projects in the Great Barrier Reef region? AAP

Can banks make a profit by investing in the Great Barrier Reef?

Earlier this month, Australia’s Big Four banks copped a serve over their support of the coal and gas extraction industries, focusing attention on the ways large banks’ investment decisions can put the…
Will the Great Barrier Reef be declared ‘In Danger’? We’ll have to wait until next year to find out. AAP Image/Catlin Seaview Survey

UNESCO still worried about the Great Barrier Reef

UNESCO, the body that lists world heritage areas, continues to express extreme disquiet about the state of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. But it has now postponed to February 2014 consideration…
Queensland’s proposed port developments threaten the state’s important northern wetlands, the reef’s first line of defence. Rex Boggs

Without wetlands, what will protect the Great Barrier Reef?

UNESCO has released its latest report on the state of the Great Barrier Reef, and has once again raised concerns about excessive port development along the coast, and the state of water quality around…
Incidents of major agricultural run-off, like the recent Queensland floods, certainly affect Great Barrier Reef water quality, but systems are in place to reduce their effect. AAP Image/Twitter, ISS, Chris Hadfield

Worried about Great Barrier Reef water pollution? Look at mining, not agriculture

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is both a national marine park and a World Heritage Area. But next to the reef, a catchment of 400,000km2 is almost completely developed for agriculture, predominantly beef…
Neither the Federal nor the Queensland Governments are doing what’s required to save the Great Barrier Reef. AAP Image/Greenpeace, Dean Sewell

Grief of Great Barrier Reef: UNESCO should declare heritage site in danger

The Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area is clearly in danger. But will UNESCO bite the bullet and officially declare it so? UNESCO acknowledges that the property is iconic. It is the world’s largest…
UNESCO’s warning has done little to turn Australia’s coal development around. Peter Asquith

Australia coy in report on heritage status of Great Barrier Reef

Australia has delivered an updated report on the state of conservation in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) that tip-toes around the politically charged issue of constraining major port expansions on the Queensland…
Do you value this? The Energy White Paper doesn’t. Green MPs

Energy White Paper plans to burn, burn, burn it all

Burn it all. That is the plan in Australia’s new Energy White Paper. Released yesterday by Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson, it talks about responding to climate change while planning the…
The Queensland government has weakened environmental regulations to get more development along the coast. John Harvey

Planning changes to accelerate Queensland coast development

The Newman-led Liberal-National Party (LNP) government in Queensland is aiming to boost economic growth by focusing on development in four areas; agriculture, tourism, mining and residential/commercial/industrial…
The Great Barrier Reef may be huge and long-lived, but without intervention it’s in serious trouble. Landfeldt/Flickr

The decay of the Great Barrier Reef calls for a reckoning

There is a myth about Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, that goes like this: because it is so big, biodiverse, so well-managed and generally bloody awesome, the GBR is immune to climate change and other…
Extreme weather events, such as Cyclone Yasi, are damaging the Great Barrier Reef. AAP

Calls for climate action as Great Barrier Reef suffers major coral loss

The Great Barrier Reef has lost half its coral cover in the last 27 years, and it could halve again by 2022 say researchers from the Australian Institute of Marine Science. A study published today in the…

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