The Queensland and Australian government’s draft strategic assessment of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area has been released today. The strategic assessment was prompted by the 2012 UNESCO-IUCN…
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
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…
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
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
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
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…
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, 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
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
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
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 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
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…