tag:theconversation.com,2011:/es/topics/great-barrier-reef-marine-park-9183/articles
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park – The Conversation
2019-09-18T20:37:17Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/123520
2019-09-18T20:37:17Z
2019-09-18T20:37:17Z
‘This situation brings me to despair’: two reef scientists share their climate grief
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292905/original/file-20190918-148993-1mn3i4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A researcher completing bleaching surveys in the southern Great Barrier Reef after a major bleaching event.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">ARC CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR CORAL REEF STUDIES</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Few feel the pain of the <a href="https://www.aims.gov.au/reef-monitoring/gbr-condition-summary-2018-2019">Great Barrier Reef’s decline</a> more acutely than the scientists trying to save it. Ahead of next week’s UN climate summit, two researchers write of their grief, and hope.</em></p>
<h2>Jon Brodie</h2>
<p><strong>Professorial Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University</strong></p>
<p>As I write this, much of inland eastern Australia is enduring what is likely to be the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTwzlL5LPZw&feature=youtu.be">worst drought ever recorded</a>. Bushfires are devastating parts of New South Wales and southern Queensland, tearing through rainforest that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/10/i-never-thought-id-see-the-australian-rainforest-burning-what-will-it-take-for-us-to-wake-up-to-the-climate-crisis">should not be dry enough to burn</a>. Major towns will probably soon run out of water. The condition of the vital Murray-Darling river system is dire.</p>
<p>Some federal government MPs have responded by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/10/david-littleproud-australian-minister-disaster-climate-change-man-made">questioning whether these events</a> are linked to anthropogenic, or man-made, climate change. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/nov/09/craig-kelly-mocks-climate-change-exaggeration-in-presentation-to-liberal-party-members">Others deny the science outright</a>. Now we have a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/17/senate-inquiry-into-great-barrier-reef-seen-as-bid-to-discredit-queensland-laws">politically motivated Senate inquiry</a> into water quality on the Great Barrier Reef.</p>
<p>This situation brings me to despair. For the past 45 years I have researched and managed coral reef water quality in Australia and overseas. Now 72, I see that much of my work, and that of my colleagues, has not led to a bright future for coral reefs. <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/WGIIAR5-CCboxes_FINAL.pdf">In decades to come they will probably still contain some corals</a>, but ecologically speaking they will not be growing, or even functioning. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292911/original/file-20190918-148993-1kvugac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292911/original/file-20190918-148993-1kvugac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292911/original/file-20190918-148993-1kvugac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292911/original/file-20190918-148993-1kvugac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292911/original/file-20190918-148993-1kvugac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292911/original/file-20190918-148993-1kvugac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292911/original/file-20190918-148993-1kvugac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Coral bleaching at Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef in 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">XL CATLIN SEAVIEW SURVEY</span></span>
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<p>Official assessments appear to confirm the reef’s inexorable demise. A five-yearly <a href="http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/our-work/outlook-report-2019">outlook report</a> from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority this month declared the outlook was “very poor” - a decline from “poor” in 2014. A joint <a href="https://www.reefplan.qld.gov.au/tracking-progress/reef-report-card">federal-Queensland government report</a> released on the same day found “minimal progress” in addressing water quality - the second most serious threat to the reef. </p>
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Read more:
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<p>The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/">warned in October</a> last year that a global temperature rise of 2°C above pre-industrial levels will decimate coral growth. It said we must stay below 1.5°C of warming for coral reefs to have a reasonable chance for a future.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292906/original/file-20190918-149007-1kfv1ft.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292906/original/file-20190918-149007-1kfv1ft.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292906/original/file-20190918-149007-1kfv1ft.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292906/original/file-20190918-149007-1kfv1ft.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292906/original/file-20190918-149007-1kfv1ft.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292906/original/file-20190918-149007-1kfv1ft.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292906/original/file-20190918-149007-1kfv1ft.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Flood plume extending 60km offshore after an extreme monsoon weather event, February 2019. Such events can seriously damage water quality.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matt Curnock</span></span>
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<p>About <a href="https://report.ipcc.ch/sr15/pdf/sr15_spm_final.pdf">1.2°C of this warming has already occurred</a>; on current policies, the world is <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-un/global-temperatures-on-track-for-3-5-degree-rise-by-2100-u-n-idUSKCN1NY186">on track for a 3°C temperature rise</a>.</p>
<p>I feel guilty when discussing this situation with young scientists. I worry that my legacy is such that they will spend their professional lives studying and documenting the terminal decline of coral reefs.</p>
<p>I feel the same sense of guilt towards my 19-year-old grandson, who is in his first year of university studying mathematics. The outlook is grim, not just for coral reefs but for society in general.</p>
<p>My life’s work, spent mostly outside, has taken a toll on my health. I’ve had several skin cancers excised over the past 25 years and in recent years have undergone major skin cancer surgery. I have recovered well and still come to James Cook University every day. But the combination of ill-health, coupled with political inaction over the dire state of the environment, only compounds a feeling that I can’t really make a difference anymore. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-the-nations-leading-and-failing-on-climate-action-123581">The good, the bad and the ugly: the nations leading and failing on climate action</a>
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<p>But on a more positive note, the Great Barrier Reef is more than just coral. It includes a wonderful array of seagrass, dugongs, turtles, fish, dolphins, birds, and whales - and this is not a complete list. </p>
<p>Many of these species are also in decline. But good water quality management will, for example, help encourage the growth of seagrass on which dugongs and green turtles rely for food. The overall picture may be grim, but there are small spots of hope.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292903/original/file-20190918-148982-1jm9gtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292903/original/file-20190918-148982-1jm9gtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292903/original/file-20190918-148982-1jm9gtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292903/original/file-20190918-148982-1jm9gtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292903/original/file-20190918-148982-1jm9gtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292903/original/file-20190918-148982-1jm9gtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292903/original/file-20190918-148982-1jm9gtr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A researcher surveys the aftermath of coral bleaching at Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef in 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">XL CATLIN SEAVIEW</span></span>
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<h2>Alana Grech</h2>
<p><strong>Assistant Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University</strong></p>
<p>I spent last weekend on Magnetic Island, just a short ferry ride from my Townsville home. With great joy I sat with our infant under a beach tent and watched my older son happily snorkel among the corals and fish.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.unicef-irc.org/article/920-climate-change-and-intergenerational-justice.html">intergenerational inequalities posed by climate change</a> have become all the more real since I became a mum. The reef my son swam over is <a href="https://www.aims.gov.au/docs/research/climate-change/declining-coral-growth.html">fundamentally different</a> from reefs that existed when my parents were children, and they are continuing to change. </p>
<p>As the wet season approaches, my anxiety, and that of my colleagues, increases at the prospect of another extreme marine heatwave. <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0351-2">Two consecutive summers of coral bleaching</a> in 2016 and 2017 severely damaged two-thirds of the Great Barrier Reef. Some researchers who bore witness to these events experienced “<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02656-8#ref-CR1">ecological grief</a>”: a profound sense of loss at the environmental harm that global warming brings.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292915/original/file-20190918-148974-1fnqbsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292915/original/file-20190918-148974-1fnqbsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292915/original/file-20190918-148974-1fnqbsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292915/original/file-20190918-148974-1fnqbsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292915/original/file-20190918-148974-1fnqbsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292915/original/file-20190918-148974-1fnqbsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292915/original/file-20190918-148974-1fnqbsb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Damage to the Great Barrier Reef threatens the region’s economy, including the fishing and tourism industries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span>
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<p>In much the same way, a large proportion of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-019-00666-z">north Queensland residents and tourists</a> experience significant grief associated with coral bleaching and mortality. Biodiversity loss also <a href="http://elibrary.gbrmpa.gov.au/jspui/handle/11017/3474">affects Traditional Owners</a>, impacting their connection to Sea Country.</p>
<p>Extreme weather events associated with climate change jeopardise the tourism and fishing industries, and coastal infrastructure that underpin the region’s economy. Insurance premiums are <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Northern%20Australia%20Insurance%20Inquiry%20-%20First%20interim%20report%202018.PDF">already higher in northern Australia</a> than in the rest of the country, and some places may one day become <a href="https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/government-must-pull-its-weight-on-climate-risk-20190809-p52fi4">uninsurable</a>. </p>
<p>However, my children were born in a wealthy country that is likely to withstand and recover from climate impacts that affect their basic needs. This <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-forced-these-fijian-communities-to-move-and-with-80-more-at-risk-heres-what-they-learned-116178">privilege is not shared</a> by the majority of reef-dependent coastal communities in the world’s tropics.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/i6rtr_w-LaE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama warns: “Our region remains on the front line of humanity’s greatest challenges”</span></figcaption>
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<p>I come from a family of healthcare professionals, but felt a career in environmental science offered the potential to make a broader impact. The state of the planet and human health and well-being are <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(19)30040-3/fulltext">inextricably linked</a>. </p>
<p>I continue to be motivated by my research on the Great Barrier Reef. But I am deeply concerned about <a href="https://scienceandtechnologyaustralia.org.au/separation-of-science-and-the-state/">rising mistrust in the scientific process</a>, despite unequivocal evidence of the reef’s decline and the impacts of climate change. It is particularly distressing when members of the federal government undermine the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/17/senate-inquiry-into-great-barrier-reef-seen-as-bid-to-discredit-queensland-laws">science that informs their own policies</a> - including <a href="http://nationals.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/FedSec_FC19_Motions.pdf">North Queensland politicians</a> advocating for a national watchdog to verify scientific papers. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292916/original/file-20190918-148960-1l11vqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292916/original/file-20190918-148960-1l11vqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292916/original/file-20190918-148960-1l11vqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292916/original/file-20190918-148960-1l11vqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292916/original/file-20190918-148960-1l11vqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292916/original/file-20190918-148960-1l11vqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/292916/original/file-20190918-148960-1l11vqm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Clownfish in the Great Barrier Reef. Sediment is damaging fish gills and causing disease.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/James Cook University</span></span>
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<p>If our political leaders want to support community adaptation and resilience to climate change, they should build, rather than erode, public trust in the evidence that underpins reef management and policy. </p>
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<p><em><strong>This piece is part of Covering Climate Now, a global collaboration of more than 250 news outlets to strengthen coverage of the climate story.</strong></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123520/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jon Brodie receives funding from the National Environmental Science Program (Australian Government), the Great Barrier Reef Foundation via CSIRO (Australian Government) and the Fitzroy Basin Association (an regional NRM organisation).
Jon Brodie is also a partner in the environmental consulting partnership C2O. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alana Grech does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Few feel the pain of the Great Barrier Reef’s decline more acutely than the scientists trying to save it. Ahead of a UN climate summit, two researchers write of their grief, and hope.
Jon Brodie, Professorial Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University
Alana Grech, Assistant Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/110877
2019-01-31T19:10:29Z
2019-01-31T19:10:29Z
The presence of people is slowing shark recovery on the Great Barrier Reef
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256545/original/file-20190131-108351-1ko5vja.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Blacktip reef sharks are one of the most common species on the Great Barrier Reef.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Simon Gingins</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Much of the Great Barrier Reef is legally protected in an effort to conserve and rebuild the fragile marine environment. Marine reserves are considered the gold standard for conservation, and often shape our perception of what an “undisturbed ecosystem” should look like.</p>
<p>However our research, published today in <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fee.2003">Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment</a>, suggests that “no-take” marine reserves may be failing shark populations on the Great Barrier Reef.</p>
<p>After 40 years of protection, the average amount of reef sharks in no-take reserves (areas where fishing is forbidden but people can boat or swim) was only one-third that in strictly enforced human exclusion areas. The difference, we argue, is down to poaching, raising serious questions about the effectiveness of no-take reserves.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/more-than-1-200-scientists-urge-rethink-on-australias-marine-park-plans-84366">More than 1,200 scientists urge rethink on Australia's marine park plans</a>
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<h2>Sharks on coral reefs</h2>
<p>Three species of shark are dominant on Indo-Pacific coral reefs: grey reef sharks, blacktip reef sharks, and whitetip reef sharks. All three of these species are considered high-level predators, but the combination of slow reproductive rates and high fishing pressure has depleted reef shark populations across much of their range. </p>
<p>Well-designed and enforced no-take marine reserves help rebuild reef shark populations, but it is not known whether these reserves can facilitate full recovery to baseline (unexploited) levels, or how long the recovery process might take.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256607/original/file-20190131-124043-k7x0b7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256607/original/file-20190131-124043-k7x0b7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256607/original/file-20190131-124043-k7x0b7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256607/original/file-20190131-124043-k7x0b7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256607/original/file-20190131-124043-k7x0b7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256607/original/file-20190131-124043-k7x0b7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256607/original/file-20190131-124043-k7x0b7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256607/original/file-20190131-124043-k7x0b7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People can swim and use boats in no-take reserves.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ciamabue/6106833654/in/photolist-aiD7Tq-BovF7C-7pUJdL-qz5iAW-c2Bmuo-7pQMJ2-kCmVB-c2Bg2L-7obCD2-c2Bir7-cRpwuq-omjKP-7gVrzw-7gVscy-PFnLfm-7ofrWE-7ofsgj-7obyZ6-dyLBrf-7ofxBE-cDcdqq-8xWdKz-omjJd-7ofvPA-dyLACb-omjMx-7ofxfC-7oftcu-A1YkZ-7pQNqX-4fV2hM-pQyBa-zdEHU-7obEgx-dyLB3h-hbzin-7obF2t-fQizP1-dyLjqQ-7ofxAG-7ofwLW-omjTQ-7oftxu-7pQGXp-7obDvr-7obDmF-f5mDL-7pUJVA-7pUSp7-SdSDPq">Jon Connell/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>No-take marine reserves</h2>
<p>No-take marine reserves are firmly advocated as an effective way to combat overfishing. With few exceptions, well-enforced no-take marine reserves result in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982208004569">rapid increases in target fish populations</a>, leading to flow-on benefits such as <a href="http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.475.8451&rep=rep1&type=pdf">better fisheries in outlying areas</a>.</p>
<p>In many cases, no-take marine reserves are considered to have intact ecology and therefore drive our perceptions of what undisturbed ecosystems should look like.</p>
<p>The entire Great Barrier Reef was open to fishing until 1980, when no-take reserves were established. More reserves were created over the next two and a half decades, resulting in reserves that vary in age from 14-39 years. A small number of no-entry reserves, which are completely off limits to humans, were also implemented during this period to guard against the potential effects of activities such as boating and diving.</p>
<p>Given that fishing is prohibited in both no-take and no-entry reserves, we expected shark populations to be similar in both areas. Due to the exclusion of humans from no-entry reserves, shark populations within these areas are largely unknown and have only been assessed once, 10 years after protection.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/killing-sharks-is-killing-coral-reefs-too-18368">Killing sharks is killing coral reefs too</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This past research revealed that shark populations were much greater inside no-entry reserves compared to no-take reserves, but this does not allow us to determine whether recovery is ongoing or complete. The diverse ages of marine reserves within the GBR provide a unique opportunity to investigate the potential recovery of reef shark populations and evaluate the performance of no-entry and no-take reserves as tools for shark conservation.</p>
<h2>What we found</h2>
<p>Using underwater survey data from 11 no-take reserves and 13 no-entry reserves, we reconstructed reef shark populations through the past four decades of protection. Surprisingly, we found shark populations were substantially higher – with two-thirds more biomass – in no-entry reserves than in no-take reserves, indicating that the latter do not support near-natural shark populations. </p>
<p>We looked at potential drivers of shark abundance and found that coral cover, habitat complexity, reef size, distance to shore, and the distance to the nearest fished reef could not explain the large differences between no-take and no-entry reserves.</p>
<p>We argue the disparity between no-entry and no-take reserves is likely due to poaching in no-take reserves. Recent research found up to 18% of recreational fishers <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/fee.1457">admit to fishing illegally</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256613/original/file-20190131-108334-o3pwmw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256613/original/file-20190131-108334-o3pwmw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256613/original/file-20190131-108334-o3pwmw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256613/original/file-20190131-108334-o3pwmw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256613/original/file-20190131-108334-o3pwmw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256613/original/file-20190131-108334-o3pwmw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256613/original/file-20190131-108334-o3pwmw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/256613/original/file-20190131-108334-o3pwmw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sharks in no-take reserves are vulnerable to poaching.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattia_v/23227239620/in/photolist-BovF7C-7pUJdL-qz5iAW-c2Bmuo-7pQMJ2-kCmVB-c2Bg2L-7obCD2-c2Bir7-cRpwuq-omjKP-7gVrzw-7gVscy-PFnLfm-7ofrWE-7ofsgj-7obyZ6-dyLBrf-7ofxBE-cDcdqq-8xWdKz-omjJd-7ofvPA-dyLACb-omjMx-7ofxfC-7oftcu-A1YkZ-7pQNqX-4fV2hM-pQyBa-zdEHU-7obEgx-dyLB3h-hbzin-7obF2t-fQizP1-dyLjqQ-7ofxAG-7ofwLW-omjTQ-7oftxu-7pQGXp-7obDvr-7obDmF-f5mDL-7pUJVA-7pUSp7-SdSDPq-7obBh8">Mattia Valente/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Enforcement of no-entry reserves is much easier than no-take reserves as evidence of fishing is not required for prosecution. On the other hand, vessels are allowed to be present in no-take reserves, leaving these areas susceptible to poaching. Given the slow reproductive rate of reef sharks, even small amounts of fishing may reduce their populations.</p>
<p>The Great Barrier Reef is one of the most intensely managed marine parks in the world. Despite this, our results reveal that no-take reserves fall well short of restoring shark populations to near-natural levels, and that up to 40 years of strong protection is required to rebuild shark populations. </p>
<p>These results also highlight that no-take marine reserves inadequately reflect ecological baselines and that we may need to reevaluate what we consider to be a natural, intact reef ecosystem.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-majority-of-people-who-see-poaching-in-marine-parks-say-nothing-101456">The majority of people who see poaching in marine parks say nothing</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>While the creation of more and larger no-entry reserves may solve the problem, this approach is likely to be unpopular and politically undesirable. An alternative approach, would be to tackle poaching by enlisting fishing communities in the fight against illegal fishing, better education, and increasing enforcement.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110877/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ashley J Frisch receives funding from the Australian Research Council's Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Justin Rizzari does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Banning fishing in no-take marine reserves on the Great Barrier Reef does not protect sharks as well as received wisdom would tell you.
Justin Rizzari, Lecturer in Fisheries Science, Deakin University
Ashley J Frisch, Research Coordinator at Reef HQ / GBRMPA, James Cook University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/101456
2018-08-16T23:02:35Z
2018-08-16T23:02:35Z
The majority of people who see poaching in marine parks say nothing
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231809/original/file-20180813-2915-1km0h86.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Marine parks protect fragile ecosystems, like coral reefs.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Justin Rizzari</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What would you do if you saw someone breaking the law? Would you report the offender to the police? Confront them? Or would you do nothing? </p>
<p>We recently asked more than 2,000 fishers in seven countries what they would do if they saw a poacher in a protected marine area. </p>
<p>Poaching – the illegal harvest of animals – plagues many of the world’s marine protected areas. Illegal fishing undermines marine parks, and can threaten chronically over-fished species. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-tackle-the-rising-tide-of-poaching-in-australias-tropical-seas-70640">How to tackle the rising tide of poaching in Australia's tropical seas</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>A key problem is the lack of enforcement resources. An <a href="http://www.ucipfg.com/Repositorio/MGAP/MGAP-10/SEMANA5/Lectura%202_Semana5.pdf">increasing number</a> of <a href="https://kundoc.com/pdf-a-sea-change-on-the-african-coast-preliminary-social-and-ecological-outcomes-of-.html">governments</a> and <a href="http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/media-room/latest-news/compliance/2016/public-urged-to-report-suspected-illegal-fishing-and-help-protect-the-reef">management agencies</a> are encouraging fishers to help, by understanding marine protection rules and reporting poachers. </p>
<p>Yet little is known about how fishers respond when they witness poaching.</p>
<h2>If you see something, say…nothing</h2>
<p>We surveyed more than 2,000 fishers near 55 marine protected areas in Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Costa Rica, and Australia, asking if they had recently seen someone poaching – and if so, what they did. </p>
<p>We found nearly half had witnessed poaching in the last 12 months, and the most common response was to do nothing. </p>
<p>This was particularly prevalent on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, where nearly 80% of fishers did nothing after observing poaching. In six of the seven countries we surveyed, fishers said their inaction was because they wanted to avoid conflict – a sensible strategy in places such as Costa Rica, where illegal drugs are commonly trafficked on boats from South America to the USA. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-poachers-persist-in-hunting-bushmeat-even-though-its-dangerous-95047">Why poachers persist in hunting bushmeat -- even though it's dangerous</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>However, avoiding conflict was rarely the rationale around the Great Barrier Reef. Fishers in the Reef cited three main reasons for inaction: </p>
<ol>
<li> uncertainty as to whether it was illegal fishing</li>
<li> a belief it was not their concern or responsibility</li>
<li> perceived obstacles to reporting (such as not knowing where or how to report).</li>
</ol>
<p>Given the growing concern over the health and future of the Reef, it’s important to enlist fishers in the fight against poachers. Encouragingly, many of the reasons for inaction can be fixed with better education and community outreach efforts. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231810/original/file-20180813-2915-1t1z5n4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231810/original/file-20180813-2915-1t1z5n4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231810/original/file-20180813-2915-1t1z5n4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231810/original/file-20180813-2915-1t1z5n4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231810/original/file-20180813-2915-1t1z5n4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231810/original/file-20180813-2915-1t1z5n4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231810/original/file-20180813-2915-1t1z5n4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Poaching plagues the world’s marine protected areas, largely due to a lack of enforcement resources. Fishers like the one above may be able to provide much needed surveillance and reporting, but care needs to be taken to ensure they are not put at risk in doing so.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Brock Bergseth</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For instance, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority already has a <a href="http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/report-an-incident">hotline</a> that fishers can call to report suspected poaching. But we found fishers regularly said they did not know how or where to report.</p>
<p>Promoting the hotline – perhaps by publicising times when it led to a poacher being fined or charged – would serve a double-purpose. It would be more accessible to legitimate fishers, and act as a deterrent. Our past research has found that a perceived <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/fee.1457">low risk of detection</a> acts as a motivation to poach.</p>
<h2>Legitimate fishers want to help</h2>
<p>It’s important to remember the vast majority of all fishers on the Great Barrier Reef do not poach. Almost all fishers think poaching is both <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X17306772">socially and personally unacceptable</a>.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X17306772">previous research</a> suggests poachers <em>do</em> tend to over estimate how common poaching is. This is called “false consensus effect” in psychology, and helps poachers to justify their poaching behaviours because they believe “everyone else does it”.</p>
<p>By promoting understanding of anti-poaching rules, and actively enlisting fishers as environmental stewards, we can reduce the (false) idea that poaching is common, justifiable and harmless. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-its-so-hard-to-fight-fisheries-crime-49837">Why it's so hard to fight fisheries crime</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Defending environmental rights can be a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/feb/02/without-a-solution-to-the-poaching-crisis-death-of-conservationists-continue-ben-fogle">risky business</a> and can expose fishers to potentially harmful retaliation by poachers; we certainly don’t suggest fishers take the law into their own hands if they witness poaching. </p>
<p>But there are many non-risky ways for fishers to report poaching, such as hotlines in the case of the Great Barrier Reef. Promoting these avenues can help address the enforcement shortfall that is severely limiting the success of marine parks around the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/101456/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brock Bergseth received funding for this project in the form of a PhD scholarship from The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Georgina Gurney receives funding from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joshua Cinner receives funding from The Australian Research Council, the Pew Charitable Trust, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, and the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association. </span></em></p>
What would you do if you saw a fisher breaking the law? Would you report the offender to the police? Confront them? Or would you do nothing? These choices affect the future of marine protected areas.
Brock Bergseth, Postdoctoral research fellow, James Cook University
Georgina Gurney, Environmental Social Science Research Fellow, James Cook University
Joshua Cinner, Professor & ARC Future Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence, Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/100674
2018-07-31T20:14:58Z
2018-07-31T20:14:58Z
Geoengineering the Great Barrier Reef needs strong rules
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229618/original/file-20180727-106505-1psdsqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Can geoengineering buy the coral reefs more time? </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/oregonstateuniversity/24577819729/">Oregon State University/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Great Barrier Reef has <a href="https://theconversation.com/great-barrier-reef-bleaching-would-be-almost-impossible-without-climate-change-58408">experienced extensive coral bleaching</a> over the past two years. Faced with this reality, scientists <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-18/out-of-the-box-ideas-needed-to-fix-great-barrier-reef/10005174?pfmredir=sm">are proposing a range of options to save the reef</a>. </p>
<p>A recent conference showcased new possibilities for enhancing Reef resilience, including <a href="https://advance.qld.gov.au/entrepreneurs-and-startups-industry-small-business/small-business-innovation-research/boosting-coral-abundance-great-barrier-reef">boosting coral abundance</a> and geoengineering techniques that would manipulate local conditions to reduce ocean temperatures.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/great-barrier-reef-bleaching-would-be-almost-impossible-without-climate-change-58408">Great Barrier Reef bleaching would be almost impossible without climate change</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>These geoengineering approaches carry their own risks, and require careful management, even at the research and field testing stages. </p>
<h2>Technology is needed to buy the reef time</h2>
<p>Climate change is affecting the reef through <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-2016-great-barrier-reef-heatwave-caused-widespread-changes-to-fish-populations-100455">bleaching events</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-41018-40359-41589.">species redistribution</a>, and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3597261/">ocean acidification</a>. Stabilising environmental conditions “to protect current reef biodiversity” requires that global temperatures stay below <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/cqstatic/gxnhwk/gbrexpertpanel.pdf">1.2°C</a>. Yet modelling of the global community’s current commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement suggests that global warming <a href="https://climateactiontracker.org/global/temperatures/">between 2.6-3.2°C will occur by 2100</a>. This would destroy the Great Barrier Reef as we know it. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229736/original/file-20180730-106514-c759g6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229736/original/file-20180730-106514-c759g6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229736/original/file-20180730-106514-c759g6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229736/original/file-20180730-106514-c759g6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229736/original/file-20180730-106514-c759g6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229736/original/file-20180730-106514-c759g6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=659&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229736/original/file-20180730-106514-c759g6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=659&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229736/original/file-20180730-106514-c759g6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=659&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Artificial marine clouds already occur as a result of shipping exhaust. Scientists propose simulating this to cool the Reef.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Liam Gumley, Space Science and Engineering Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is not surprising, then, that scientists are looking to buy the reef some time, while the international community works to stabilise and then reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. The <a href="https://advance.qld.gov.au/entrepreneurs-and-startups-industry-small-business/small-business-innovation-research/boosting-coral-abundance-great-barrier-reef">Commonwealth and Queensland governments</a> have announced funding for feasibility projects aimed at manipulating surface water temperatures using three different techniques:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Creating a <a href="https://www.barrierreef.org/latest/news/reef-sun-shield-trials-show-promise-to-prevent-coral-bleaching">reflective surface film</a> that would float on the surface of the water. Made from calcium carbonate (the same mineral as coral), the film would reflect sunlight, thereby lowering water temperatures and ultraviolet radiation exposure. </p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.savingthegreatbarrierreef.org/">Marine cloud brightening</a> to also reflect more sunlight away from the reef. The plan is to spray microscopic salt particles into clouds using customised vessels or modified snow machines. This increases the concentration of droplets in clouds and encourages smaller, more reflective droplets to form. </p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://rrrc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/RRRC-welcomes-funding-for-water-mixing-technology-as-bleaching-season-approaches1.pdf">Water-mixing units</a> with large, slow moving fans that will draw cool water from 10-30 metres deep and deliver it to surface areas to limit coral heat stress. In 2017 this proposal received <a href="http://www.joshfrydenberg.com.au/siteData/uploadedData/Minister%20Frydenberg%20&%20Mr%20Entsch%20-%20Joint%20Media%20Release%20-%20Innovative%20methods%20to%20help%20prevent%20coral%20bleaching_99ad1dbf-8ea7-408e-8e97-307573800723.pdf">A$2.2 million in Commonwealth funding</a>, to test eight water-mixing units over a 1km square area of Moore Reef, off the coast of Cairns. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Engineering the climate of Australia’s most iconic natural system carries obvious risks. Indeed, Australia has a history of well-intended attempts to manage nature that have backfired because the risks were not <a href="https://theconversation.com/everyone-agreed-cane-toads-would-be-a-winner-for-australia-19881">fully understood</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/everyone-agreed-cane-toads-would-be-a-winner-for-australia-19881">Everyone agreed: cane toads would be a winner for Australia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>We must be confident that such technological interventions will protect the reef, not contribute to its destruction. This is a problem because scientific trials are supposed to identify and assess risks, so we won’t fully understand what impacts they have until such trials are undertaken. </p>
<h2>Governance necessary for public confidence</h2>
<p>Building public confidence that potential risks have been identified and addressed is essential to the long-term success of reef geoengineering proposals. Even <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/479293a">feasibility studies</a> can be derailed if they lack public support.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229794/original/file-20180730-106517-mxsgd0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229794/original/file-20180730-106517-mxsgd0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229794/original/file-20180730-106517-mxsgd0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229794/original/file-20180730-106517-mxsgd0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229794/original/file-20180730-106517-mxsgd0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229794/original/file-20180730-106517-mxsgd0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229794/original/file-20180730-106517-mxsgd0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229794/original/file-20180730-106517-mxsgd0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We need to develop governance frameworks to ensure we have the best possible chance of saving our most important natural wonder.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Yanguang Lan, Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The legitimacy and ultimate acceptability of reef geoengineering technologies therefore demands robust and transparent processes for funding, research, field testing and eventual deployment. Drawing on the <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmsctech/221/221.pdf">Oxford Principles for Geoengineering Governance</a>, the minimum governance standards should include:</p>
<ul>
<li>criteria and clear processes for research funding decisions</li>
<li>public access to information about planned field testing</li>
<li>demonstrated compliance with Australia’s environmental laws. </li>
</ul>
<p>Current environmental laws do not make special exemptions for scientific research or testing in areas of national environmental significance, such as the Great Barrier Reef. Any geoengineering trial that might have a “significant impact” on those areas is illegal without a permit from the Commonwealth Environment Minister. The Minister is guided by the precautionary principle and World Heritage obligations in issuing such permits. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2004A01395">Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act</a> imposes separate approval requirements and makes protection of the reef the highest priority. This would suggest that the standard for environmental assessment for any proposal to run geoengineering trials on the Reef should be high. </p>
<p>It is unclear how the federal environment minister and the <a href="http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au">Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority</a> will evaluate whether the risks of field testing are small enough to justify granting their approval. The position is made more uncertain by the fact that the authority is directly involved in at least one of the projects. This uncertainty risks poor environmental outcomes and erosion of public confidence.</p>
<p>We need a strong framework for assessing and managing the risks of geoengineering, to address <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/485415a">legitimate public concerns</a>.</p>
<p>As the stewards of the reef, the Marine Park Authority is ideally placed to take the lead on developing this framework, to ensure we have the best possible chance of saving our most important natural wonder.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100674/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jan McDonald is a Director of the National Environmental Law Association</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brendan Gogarty, Jeffrey McGee, and Kerryn Brent do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Climate mitigation efforts are unlikely to be enough to save critical ecosystems like the Great Barrier Reef. We may need to consider more radical environmental engineering.
Kerryn Brent, Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Tasmania
Brendan Gogarty, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Tasmania
Jan McDonald, Professor of Environmental Law, University of Tasmania
Jeffrey McGee, Senior Lecturer in Climate Change, Marine and Antarctic Law Faculty of Law and Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/97689
2018-06-07T00:30:21Z
2018-06-07T00:30:21Z
Australian commercial fish populations drop by a third over ten years
<p>Large fish species are rapidly declining around Australia, according to the first continental diver census of <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/aqc.2934">shallow reef fish</a>. Contrary to years of sustainability reports, our study indicates that excessive fishing pressure is contributing to decline of many Australian fish species.</p>
<p>In areas open to fishing, we found that exploited populations fell by an average of 33% between 2005 and 2015. This rate closely matches the 32% downward trend in total Australian fishery catches through the same period.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/citizen-scientist-scuba-divers-shed-light-on-the-impact-of-warming-oceans-on-marine-life-85970">Citizen scientist scuba divers shed light on the impact of warming oceans on marine life</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In contrast, in marine parks where fishing is prohibited, the same species increased by an average of 25%. Other species not targeted by fishers showed a small downward trend (11% decline in fished zones; 16% decline in no-take marine reserves), indicating that recent marine <a href="https://theconversation.com/marine-heatwaves-are-getting-hotter-lasting-longer-and-doing-more-damage-95637">heatwaves</a> off southeastern and southwestern Australia have probably adversely affected marine life over a wide area.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/marine-heatwaves-are-getting-hotter-lasting-longer-and-doing-more-damage-95637">Marine heatwaves are getting hotter, lasting longer and doing more damage</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Citizen science</h2>
<p>Our audit of 531 study sites was made possible by combining data from 50-metre long transects repeatedly surveyed by Australian Institute of Marine Science and University of Tasmania research divers, and by highly trained volunteers participating in the citizen science <a href="https://theconversation.com/citizen-scientist-scuba-divers-shed-light-on-the-impact-of-warming-oceans-on-marine-life-85970">Reef Life Survey program</a>.</p>
<p>After the collapse of some <a href="https://theconversation.com/plenty-of-fish-in-the-sea-not-necessarily-as-history-shows-84440">high-profile fisheries</a> in the 1990s, such as gemfish, orange roughy and southern bluefin tuna, federal and state agencies took a more conservative approach to fish capture. Australian fisheries are now regarded as among the most sustainable worldwide.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/plenty-of-fish-in-the-sea-not-necessarily-as-history-shows-84440">Plenty of fish in the sea? Not necessarily, as history shows</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Regardless, the prevalence of downward population trends in our investigation indicates that a reduction in fishing pressure and additional caution is needed. Otherwise, more Australian fisheries may not be economically viable if this trend continues.</p>
<p>Our analysis identified a variety of issues that affect fishery management practices, many of which are also evident <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-zealands-fisheries-quota-management-system-on-an-undeserved-pedestal-82210">overseas</a>, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>little relevant data for decision-making related to ecological issues</li>
<li>a lack of no-fishing reference areas to scientifically assess impacts of fishing</li>
<li>poorly documented stock assessments with limited public accessibility</li>
<li>management decisions made by committees dominated by industry-aligned members</li>
<li>short-term catch maximisation prioritised over precaution</li>
<li>fishery models that rarely consider species interactions or climate impacts</li>
<li>wider effects of fishing on ecosystems and their resilience to multiple pressures are overlooked</li>
</ul>
<h2>No-fishing reserves work</h2>
<p>Our study indicates that a highly effective but underused tool in the manager’s toolbox is expanded rollout of <a href="https://theconversation.com/worlds-largest-survey-of-marine-parks-shows-conservation-can-be-greatly-improved-22827">no-fishing “marine reserves”</a>. Despite receiving wide public support, most Australian marine reserves are small and located in areas with <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/aqc.2445">few fishery resources</a>. They consequently house few mature, egg-producing females and do little to assist in the rebuilding of overfished stocks. Nor are they likely to help much in the recovery of important ecosystem functions, as needed for fished-species populations to rebound after climate shocks and other pressures.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/aqc.2445">July rollout of Australian Marine Parks</a>, in particular, represents a lost opportunity that may prove a significant problem for fishers. Although covering 2.76 million square kilometres – the largest marine park in the world – <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-new-marine-protected-areas-why-they-wont-work-11469">it is of limited conservation value</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-new-marine-protected-areas-why-they-wont-work-11469">Australia’s new marine protected areas: why they won't work</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Through three rounds of public submissions, each largely aimed at minimising any remaining overlap with current fishing activities, the final zoning plans affect very few stakeholders. The outcome is neither an efficient nor effective solution to the actual problem of protecting the oceans.</p>
<p>For example, the Temperate East Zone covering waters from the Victorian border to southern Queensland includes no new “no-take” reserves shallower than 1,000m depth, although these waters are where virtually all fishing impacts occur in this region.</p>
<p>The widespread declaration of marine parks that allow current fishing to continue is perhaps useful when harmful fishing practices for ecosystems are excluded. However, our study indicates that this basic assumption does not apply to Australian Marine Parks. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/more-than-1-200-scientists-urge-rethink-on-australias-marine-park-plans-84366">More than 1,200 scientists urge rethink on Australia's marine park plans</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The environmental and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/aqc.2745">economic</a> debt for future generations is both huge and unfair.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97689/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Graham Edgar received funding from the ARC for this research. He is also the president of the Reef Life Survey Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Trevor J Ward does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Australia was thought to have some of the most sustainable fisheries in the world, but a recent count has found that fish numbers have plummeted by a third.
Graham Edgar, Senior Marine Ecologist, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania
Trevor J Ward, Adjunct professor, University of Technology Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/95143
2018-05-24T20:07:12Z
2018-05-24T20:07:12Z
Dugong and sea turtle poo sheds new light on the Great Barrier Reef’s seagrass meadows
<p>Just like birds and mammals carrying seeds through a rainforest, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-04421-1">green sea turtles and dugong</a> spread the seeds of <a href="http://ocean.si.edu/seagrass-and-seagrass-beds">seagrass plants</a> as they feed. Our team at James Cook University’s <a href="https://research.jcu.edu.au/tropwater">TropWATER Centre</a> has uncovered a unique relationship in the seagrass meadows of the Great Barrier Reef.</p>
<p>We followed feeding sea turtle and dugong, collecting samples of their floating faecal matter. Samantha then had the unenviable job of sifting through hundreds of smelly samples to find any seagrass seeds. These seeds range in size from a few centimetres to a few millimetres, and therefore can require the assistance of a microscope to be found. Once any seeds were found, they were stained with a chemical dye (Tetrazolium) to see if they were still viable (capable of growing).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220051/original/file-20180523-51115-vt5hm0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220051/original/file-20180523-51115-vt5hm0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220051/original/file-20180523-51115-vt5hm0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220051/original/file-20180523-51115-vt5hm0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220051/original/file-20180523-51115-vt5hm0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220051/original/file-20180523-51115-vt5hm0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220051/original/file-20180523-51115-vt5hm0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">PhD candidate Samantha Tol holding dugong poo collected from Cleveland Bay in Townsville.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">TropWATER, JCU</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why is this important for turtles and dugong?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/g/green-sea-turtle/">Green sea turtles</a> and <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/d/dugong/">dugong</a> are iconic animals on the reef, and seagrass is their food. Dugong can eat as much as 35 kilograms of wet seagrass a day, while sea turtles can eat up to 2.5% of their body weight per day. Without productive seagrass meadows, they would not survive. </p>
<p>This relationship was highlighted in 2010-11 when heavy flooding and the impact of tropical cyclone Yasi led to drastic seagrass declines in north Queensland. In the year following this seagrass decline there was a spike in the number of <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/8753630/Mass-starvation-of-dugongs-and-turtles-on-Great-Barrier-Reef.html">starving and stranded sea turtles and dugong</a> along the entire Queensland coast.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://research.jcu.edu.au/tropwater/research-programs/seagrass-ecology-1/seagrass-ecology">seagrass team at James Cook University</a> has been <a href="https://eatlas.org.au/map/gbr-seagrass">mapping</a>, monitoring and researching the health of the Great Barrier Reef seagrasses for more than 30 years. While coral reefs are more attractive for tourists, the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272771414002078?via%3Dihub">Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area</a> actually contains a greater area of seagrass than coral, encompassing around 20% of the world’s seagrass species. Seagrass ecosystems also maintain vibrant marine life, with many fish, crustaceans, sea stars, sea cucumbers, urchins and many more marine animals calling these meadows their home.</p>
<p>These underwater flowering plants are a <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/56/12/987/221654">vital component</a> of the reef ecosystem. Seagrasses stabilise the sediment, sequester large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere and <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/355/6326/731">filter the water</a> before it reaches the coral reefs. Further, the seagrass meadows in the Great Barrier Reef support one of the largest populations of sea turtles and dugong in the world.</p>
<h2>Seagrass meadows are more connected than we thought</h2>
<p>Samantha’s research was worth the effort. There were seeds of at least three seagrass species in the poo of both sea turtles and dugong. And lots of them – as many as two seeds per gram of poo. About one in ten were viable, meaning they could grow into new plants. </p>
<p>Based on estimates of the number of animals in the coastal waters, the time it takes for food to pass through their gut, and movement data collected from animals fitted with satellite tags, there are potentially as many as 500,000 viable seeds on the move each day in the Great Barrier Reef. These seeds can be transported distances of up to 650km in total.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220052/original/file-20180523-51105-16my7yr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220052/original/file-20180523-51105-16my7yr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220052/original/file-20180523-51105-16my7yr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220052/original/file-20180523-51105-16my7yr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220052/original/file-20180523-51105-16my7yr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220052/original/file-20180523-51105-16my7yr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220052/original/file-20180523-51105-16my7yr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Green Island seagrass meadow exposed at low tide.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">TropWATER, JCU</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This means turtles and dugong are <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ddi.12479">connecting distant seagrass meadows</a> by transporting seeds. Those seeds improve the genetic diversity of the meadows and may help meadows recover when they are damaged or lost after cyclones. These animals help to protect and nurture their own food supply, and in doing so make the reef ecosystem around them more resilient. </p>
<h2>Understanding recovery after climate events</h2>
<p>Seagrass meadows have been under stress in recent years. A series of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12038-015-9516-6">floods and cyclones</a> has left meadows in poor condition, and recovery has been <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X1400109X?via%3Dihub">patchy and site-dependent</a>. </p>
<p>This research shows that these ecosystems have pathways for recovery. Provided we take care with the environment, seagrasses may yet recover without direct human intervention. </p>
<p>This work emphasises how much we still have to learn about how the reef systems interconnect and work together – and how much we need to protect every part of our marvellous and amazing reef environment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95143/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samantha Tol receives funding from various research grants and income from coastal projects and consultancies.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul York receives funding from various research grants and income from coastal projects and consultancies.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rob Coles receives funding from various research grants and income from coastal projects and consultancies. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alana Grech does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
New research highlights the role of sea turtles and dugong in the dispersal of seeds and maintenance of seagrass meadows, an important marine habitat and the primary food source for both animals.
Samantha J Tol, PhD Candidate, James Cook University
Alana Grech, Assistant Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University
Paul York, Senior Research Scientist in Marine Biology, James Cook University
Rob Coles, Team leader, Seagrass Habitats, TropWATER, James Cook University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/83717
2017-10-16T03:34:19Z
2017-10-16T03:34:19Z
Is it too cheap to visit the ‘priceless’ Great Barrier Reef?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190304/original/file-20171016-27708-hx6tj4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Would you pay more if you thought it would help?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Great Barrier Reef is one of the world’s finest natural wonders. It’s also extraordinarily cheap to visit – perhaps too cheap.</p>
<p>While a visit to the reef can be part of an expensive holiday, the daily fee to enter the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park itself is <a href="http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/zoning-permits-and-plans/environmental-management-charge/what-are-the-charges">a measly A$6.50</a>. In contrast, earlier this year I was lucky enough to visit Rwanda’s mountain gorillas and paid a US$750 fee, and the charge has since been doubled to <a href="http://www.rdb.rw/tourism-and-conservation/gorilla-trekking.html">US$1,500</a>. </p>
<p>To me, seeing the reef was better than visiting the gorillas. Personally, I would be happy to pay more to visit the Great Barrier Reef. Does this mean we’re undervaluing our most important natural wonder? And if we do ask visitors to pay a higher price, would it actually help the reef or simply harm tourism numbers?</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/money-cant-buy-me-love-but-you-can-put-a-price-on-a-tree-84357">Money can't buy me love, but you can put a price on a tree</a>
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<p>Putting <a href="https://theconversation.com/money-cant-buy-me-love-but-you-can-put-a-price-on-a-tree-84357">dollar values on the natural world</a> can be a heated topic. Earlier this year Deloitte Access Economics <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/au/Documents/Economics/deloitte-au-economics-great-barrier-reef-230617.pdf">valued the Great Barrier Reef at A$56 billion</a> “as an Australian economic, social and iconic asset”, but was met with the retort that its true value is <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-the-%20economic-value-of-the-great-barrier-reef-its-priceless-80061">priceless</a>. </p>
<p>The A$56 billion estimate was based on surveys that measured “consumer surplus and non-use benefits”. This common research technique involves asking people what they would be willing to pay to get a particular benefit. For example, the entrance fee for the reef is A$6.50 but if I am willing to pay A$50 (say), that equates to a consumer surplus of A$43.50. In other words, I am receiving A$43.50 worth of value that I did not have to pay for. </p>
<p>I understand that some people instinctively object to the idea of trying to put monetary values on things like the Great Barrier Reef. But I think valuation helps, on balance, because it offers a way to assimilate environmental information into the economic processes through which most decisions are made. Money makes the world go around, after all. </p>
<p>However this should be done on the proviso that the valuation is systematic and based on sound environmental and economic data. </p>
<h2>Accounting for the Great Barrier Reef</h2>
<p>The process by which these values are calculated is called “<a href="https://theconversation.com/money-cant-buy-me-love-but-you-can-put-a-price-on-a-tree-84357">environmental accounting</a>”, and estimates have to meet <a href="https://unstats.un.org/unsd/envaccounting/seeaRev/SEEA_CF_Final_en.pdf">international standards known as the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting or SEEA</a> in order to be valid. This builds on the System of National Accounts (which among many other things gives us the GDP indicator). In this accounting, as in business accounting, the values recorded are exchange values – that is, what someone paid (or was likely to pay) for a good, service or asset. For assets that aren’t regularly traded, this figure can be based on either previous sales or expected future income. </p>
<p>It does not use willingness-to-pay measures. The Deloitte report also estimated exchange values in line with accounting values, with the Great Barrier Reef contributing A$6.4 billion to the economy through tourism, fishing, recreation, and research and scientific management.</p>
<p>The Australian Bureau of Statistics has a <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/4680.02017?OpenDocument">huge amount of data</a> on the Great Barrier Reef, covering the physical state of the reef and its surroundings, the economic activity occurring in the region, and more besides.</p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, tourism is the region’s most valuable industry, contributing A$3.8 billion in <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by+Subject/1367.0%7E2012%7EMain+Features%7EIndustry+Gross+Value+Added%7E6.23">gross value added</a> in 2015-16 (see Table 1 <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/4680.0Main%20Features102017?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=4680.0&issue=2017&num=&view=">here</a>). That year the Marine Park had 2.3 million visitors, who together paid just under A$9 million in park entry charges (see Table 4 <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/4680.0Main%20Features102017?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=4680.0&issue=2017&num=&view=">here</a>). </p>
<p>Ecosystem services are the contributions of the natural world to benefits enjoyed by people. For example, farmers grow crops that are pollinated by insects and use nutrients found in the soil. These things are not explicitly paid for, but by examining economic transactions we can estimate their value. </p>
<p>Surprisingly, the value of ecosystem services used by tourism was A$600 million – just half the value of the ecosystem services used by the agriculture industry. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190318/original/file-20171016-27761-ejcdjj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190318/original/file-20171016-27761-ejcdjj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190318/original/file-20171016-27761-ejcdjj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190318/original/file-20171016-27761-ejcdjj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190318/original/file-20171016-27761-ejcdjj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190318/original/file-20171016-27761-ejcdjj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190318/original/file-20171016-27761-ejcdjj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190318/original/file-20171016-27761-ejcdjj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Value of ecosystem services (in millions of dollars) used by selected industries in the Great Barrier Reef Region in 2014-15.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ABS</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The result is partly explained by the way things are valued. Agricultural products are bought and sold in markets, whereas the Great Barrier Reef is a public asset and the fee for visiting it is set by governments, not by a market. </p>
<p>On these numbers, paying A$6.50 to visit one of the great treasures of the world is a bargain indeed. But what does it mean for the reef itself?</p>
<h2>Reef under threat</h2>
<p>The reef is under pressure from <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/great-barrier-reef-threats-series-17189">many factors</a>, including <a href="https://theconversation.com/coal-and-climate-change-a-death-sentence-for-the-great-barrier-reef-39252">climate change</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/cloudy-issue-we-need-to-fix-the-barrier-reefs-murky-waters-39380">nutrient runoff</a>, tourism impacts, and fishing. Managing the pressure requires resources, and it makes sense to ask those who use it to pay for it. </p>
<p>Increased funding to help manage these pressures would therefore be good. What’s more, governments could conceivably also use natural resources to generate money to fund other public goods and services, such as roads, education, health, defence, and so on. </p>
<p>Before you protest at this idea, ask yourself: why should the Great Barrier Reef not be used to generate revenue for government? Other natural resources are used this way. The federal and Queensland governments are <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-we-still-pursuing-the-adani-carmichael-mine-85100">pursuing economic benefits</a> from the coal in the nearby Galilee Basin. If government revenue from the Great Barrier Reef were increased, it might reduce the need for revenue from elsewhere. </p>
<h2>So what next?</h2>
<p>Environmental accounting offers a clear way to assess such trade-offs, and will hopefully lead to better decisions. To achieve this we will need:</p>
<ul>
<li>Regular environmental-economic accounts from trusted institutions like the ABS</li>
<li>Governments and business to incorporate this new accounting into their strategic planning and management (including, in the case of the Great Barrier Reef, assessing the likely revenue from increased marine park fees)</li>
<li>The public to use the accounts to hold our government and business leaders to
account. </li>
</ul>
<p>The last will no doubt make some uncomfortable, while the second will take some time. The first is already a reality. I hope others take the time to understand and analyse the accounts already available, and that we get as much debate about managing the environment as we do about managing the economy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83717/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Vardon has previously worked for the Australian Bureau of Statistics and currently coordinates a course on environmental-economic accounting that is is run jointly by the Bureau and the Australia National University. He has received funding from the World Bank and United Nations for work on environmental-economic accounting. </span></em></p>
Is Australia undervaluing its most valuable natural asset by only charging $6.50 a day to visit the Great Barrier Reef? And would it help if tourists were asked to pay more?
Michael Vardon, Visiting Fellow at the Fenner School, Australian National University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/78588
2017-05-31T20:15:30Z
2017-05-31T20:15:30Z
The world’s coral reefs are in trouble, but don’t give up on them yet
<p>The world’s coral reefs are undoubtedly in deep trouble. But as we and our colleagues argue in a <a href="http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature22901">review published today in Nature</a>, we shouldn’t give up hope for coral reefs, despite the pervasive doom and gloom.</p>
<p>Instead, we have to accept that coral reefs around the world are transforming rapidly into a newly emerging ecosystem unlike anything humans have experienced before. Realistically, we can no longer expect to conserve, maintain, preserve or restore coral reefs as they used to be. </p>
<p>This is a confronting message. But it also focuses attention on what we need to do to secure a realistic future for reefs, and to retain the food security and other benefits they provide to society.</p>
<p>The past three years have been the <a href="https://theconversation.com/2016-crowned-hottest-year-on-record-australia-needs-to-get-heat-smart-70994">warmest on record</a>, and many coral reefs throughout the tropics have suffered one or more bouts of bleaching during prolonged underwater heatwaves. </p>
<p>A bleached coral doesn’t necessarily die. But in 2016, two-thirds of corals on the northern Great Barrier Reef did die in just six months, as a result of <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-much-coral-has-died-in-the-great-barrier-reefs-%20worst-bleaching-event-69494">unprecedented heat stress</a>. This year the bleaching happened again, this time mainly on the <a href="https://theconversation.com/back-to-back-bleaching-has-now-hit-two-thirds-of-the-great-barrier-reef-76092">middle section of the reef</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171577/original/file-20170531-25652-hb7in7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171577/original/file-20170531-25652-hb7in7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171577/original/file-20170531-25652-hb7in7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171577/original/file-20170531-25652-hb7in7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171577/original/file-20170531-25652-hb7in7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171577/original/file-20170531-25652-hb7in7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171577/original/file-20170531-25652-hb7in7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171577/original/file-20170531-25652-hb7in7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Reefs are being degraded by global pressures, not just local ones.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Terry Hughes</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In both years, the southern third of the reef escaped with little or no bleaching, because it was cooler. So bleaching is patchy and it varies in severity, depending partly on where the water is hottest each summer, and on regional differences in the rate of warming. Consequently some regions, reefs, or even local sites within reefs, can escape damage even during a global heatwave.</p>
<p>Moderate bleaching events are also highly selective, affecting some coral species and individual colonies more than others, creating <a href="https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v543/n7645/full/nature21707.html">winners and losers</a>. Coral species also differ in their capacity to reproduce, disperse as larvae, and to rebound afterwards. </p>
<p>This natural variability offers hope for the future, and represents different sources of resilience. Surviving corals will continue to produce billions of larvae each year, and their genetic makeup will evolve under intense natural selection.</p>
<p>In response to fishing, coastal development, pollution and four bouts of bleaching in 1998, 2002, 2016 and 2017, the Great Barrier Reef is already a highly altered ecosystem, and it will change even more in the coming decades. Although reefs will be different in future, they could still be perfectly functional in centuries to come – capable of sustaining ecological processes and regenerating themselves. But this will only be possible if we act quickly to curb climate change.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-paris-climate-agreement-at-a-glance-50465">Paris climate agreement</a> provides the key framework for avoiding very dangerous levels of global warming. Its 1.5°C and 2°C targets refer to increases in global average land and sea temperatures, relative to pre-industrial times. For most shallow tropical oceans, where temperatures are rising more slowly than the global average, that translates to 0.5°C of further warming by the end of this century – slightly less than the amount of warming that coral reefs have <a href="http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature22901">already experienced since industrialisation began</a>. </p>
<p>If we can improve the management of reefs to help them run this climate gauntlet, then reefs should survive. Reefs of the future will have a different mix of species, but they should nonetheless retain their aesthetic values, and support tourism and fishing. However, this cautious optimism is entirely contingent on steering global greenhouse emissions away from their current trajectory, which could see annual bleaching of corals occurring in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/srep39666">most tropical locations by 2050</a>. There is no time to lose before this narrowing window of opportunity closes.</p>
<h2>A crisis of governance</h2>
<p>Reef governance is failing because it is largely set up to manage local threats, such as overfishing and pollution. In Australia, when the <a href="http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/">Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority</a> was set up in 1976, the objective of managing threats at the scale of (almost) the entire Great Barrier Reef was revolutionary. But today, the scale of threats is global: market pressures for Australian reef fish now come from overseas; port dredging and shipping across the reef are spurred on by fossil fuel exports to Asia; a housing crisis in the United States can batter reef tourism half a world away; and record breaking marine heatwaves due to global warming can kill even the most highly protected and remote corals. </p>
<p>Increasingly, coral reef researchers are turning to the social sciences, not just biology, in search of solutions. We need better governance that addresses both local and larger-scale threats to coral reef degradation, rather than band-aid measures such as culling starfish that eat corals. </p>
<p>In many tropical countries, the root causes of reef degradation include poverty, increasing market pressures from globalisation, and of course the extra impacts of global warming. Yet these global issues desperately need more attention at just the time when some governments are <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-trumps-skinny-budget-is-already-dead-73824">reducing foreign aid</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/paris-climate-targets-arent-enough-but-we-can-close-the-gap-61798">failing to address global climate change</a>, and in the case of Australia and the US, trying to resuscitate the dying fossil fuel industry with <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-council-climate-health-and-economics-are-against-carmichael-mine-77940">subsidies for economically unviable projects</a>.</p>
<p>Effective reef governance will not only require increased cooperation among nations to tackle global issues, as in the case of the Paris climate deal, but will also require policy coordination at the national level to ensure that domestic action matches and supports these larger-scale goals.</p>
<p>Quite simply, we can’t expect to have thriving coral reefs in the future as well as new coal mines – policies to promote both are incompatible.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/78588/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Terry Hughes receives competitive research funding from The Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joshua Cinner receives competitive research funding from the Australian Research Council and currently holds a fellowship from the Pew Charitable Trust </span></em></p>
Tropical coral reefs can be saved from climate change and other pressures, but the window of opportunity is closing. And reefs are guaranteed to be markedly different in the future.
Terry Hughes, Distinguished Professor, James Cook University, James Cook University
Joshua Cinner, Professor & ARC Future Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence, Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/75053
2017-04-06T04:38:39Z
2017-04-06T04:38:39Z
The Great Barrier Reef’s safety net is becoming more complex but less effective
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/163603/original/image-20170403-16542-1ax509b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Great Barrier Reef is currently experiencing a second wave of bleaching. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP Image/WWF AUSTRALIA, BIOPIXEL</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Great Barrier Reef is under serious threat, as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/great-barrier-reef-bleaching-would-be-almost-impossible-without-climate-change-58408">coral-bleaching crisis</a> continues to unfold. These problems are caused by global climate change, but our ability to react to them – or prevent more harm – is clouded by a tangled web of bureaucracy.</p>
<p>Published this week, my <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/03/22/1620830114">latest research</a> shows the increasingly complex systems for governing the Reef are becoming less effective.</p>
<p>Earlier this month, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the National Coral Reef Taskforce confirmed that a <a href="https://www.coralcoe.org.au/media-releases/scientists-mobilise-as-bleaching-resumes-on-great-barrier-reef">second wave of mass bleaching</a> is now unfolding on the Reef. The same week, the Australian government quietly announced an unexpected <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/minister/frydenberg/media-releases/mr20170307a.html">review of the governance of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority</a>.</p>
<p>This most recent coral bleaching crisis brings the governance of the reef into stark relief.</p>
<h2>How did we get here?</h2>
<p>Yet this problem didn’t always exist. In 2011, a state-of-the-art system governed the complete range of marine, terrestrial, and global threats to the reef. The management of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park was (and still is) the responsibility of the Australian government, primarily through the statutory <a href="http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au">Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority</a>.</p>
<p>A highly collaborative working relationship, dating back to 1979, existed with the State of Queensland. Complementary marine, land, water, and coastal arrangements were established over four decades. The <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/154">United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization</a> (UNESCO) provided important international oversight as a consequence of the 1981 World Heritage listing.</p>
<p>By 2011, the management of the reef had received international acclaim, with the 2004 rezoning process (which divides the reef into eight zones for different activities) receiving <a href="http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/about-us/corporate-information/awards-and-recognitions">19 international, national, and local awards</a>.</p>
<p>Yet despite the attention of federal lawmakers and considerable acclaim, in 2014 <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/6049/">UNESCO was considering the Great Barrier Reef for an “In Danger” listing</a>. Appearing on this list is a strong signal to the international community that a World Heritage area is threatened and corrective action needs to be taken.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/163781/original/image-20170404-21938-6216dq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/163781/original/image-20170404-21938-6216dq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/163781/original/image-20170404-21938-6216dq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163781/original/image-20170404-21938-6216dq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163781/original/image-20170404-21938-6216dq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163781/original/image-20170404-21938-6216dq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163781/original/image-20170404-21938-6216dq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163781/original/image-20170404-21938-6216dq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lizard Island in 2016, after the worst climate change-induced coral bleaching event ever recorded.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP Image/XL Catlin Seaview Survey</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What went wrong?</h2>
<p>So what went wrong? <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/03/22/1620830114">My study</a> examined the structure and context of the systems for protecting the reef, which offers insight into how well they’re working.</p>
<p>It’s worth noting that complex systems aren’t inherently bad. A polycentric approach – which literally means “multiple centres”, instead of a single governing body – can be both stable and effective. But I found that in the case of the Great Barrier Reef, it masks serious problems.</p>
<p>A number of stresses, like climate change, economic crises, resource industry pressure and local political backlashes against conservation, have all combined to impact effective management of the reef.</p>
<p>Furthermore, successive governments keep making new announcements (new laws, programs, funds, and plans) while at the same time chipping away at the pre-existing laws, departments and funding.</p>
<p>Low-visibility examples include the introduction of a policy that encourages developers who want to build on or near the reef to <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/marine/gbr/reef-trust">make an offset payment into the Reef Trust</a>, which funds activity to improve water quality. However, many stakeholders believe that this has also made getting consent for development easier.</p>
<p>This is because, while there is no evidence of actual corruption, there is no mechanism to minimise the potential for undue industry influence under this policy. The Department of Environment grants approval for developments, and also oversees the offset fund into which the developers pay. Many stakeholders regard this as a conflict of interest. Indeed, the 2016 Audit of the Reef Trust by the Australian National Audit Office concluded that the Department should have “considered more fully the risks and costs associated with alternative program delivery models to underpin its advice to government on the design of the Reef Trust”.</p>
<p>More visible examples include the dismantling of complementary policies and institutions, including the repeals of <a href="https://www.dilgp.qld.gov.au/resources/factsheet/planning/sprp-draft-coastal-protection.pdf">Queensland coasts and catchments legislation</a> in 2013, and <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1516/Climate2015">Australian climate law and policy</a> in 2014.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09644016.2015.1074385">2015 study of OECD countries</a> singled out the Australian Department of Environment for unusually frequent changes of both name and composition. The same study also showed that Australia has one of the sharpest declines in staff at national environment authorities since the 1990s, relative to other OECD countries.</p>
<p>Between 2005 and 2015, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority itself saw its resources plateau, and an increasing politicisation of decisions. Its independence was also reduced through a series of small, incremental actions. Since 2005, there has been at least ten “regime changes”, ranging from small tweaks to large restructurings.</p>
<p>Core funding across all relevant agencies has failed to keep pace with costs, at the same time as demands on them rose in response to the Queensland resources and population boom, not to mention global climate change. In recognition of the increasing local pressures on the regime, a A$124 million funding boost to the Authority over 10 years was announced in December 2016.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/163587/original/image-20170403-19466-1e37c5q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/163587/original/image-20170403-19466-1e37c5q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/163587/original/image-20170403-19466-1e37c5q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163587/original/image-20170403-19466-1e37c5q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163587/original/image-20170403-19466-1e37c5q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163587/original/image-20170403-19466-1e37c5q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163587/original/image-20170403-19466-1e37c5q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163587/original/image-20170403-19466-1e37c5q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Schematic of major changes to regime structure, context, and effectiveness over time. Different types of change influence the structure and effectiveness of the regime in different ways.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/03/22/1620830114.full">PNAS</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, reef stakeholders must increasingly focus their attention on how all of this fits together as a streamlined system or as a network, rather than how to actually make it effective.</p>
<p>If we are to save the Great Barrier Reef from climate change, then we need to fix its governance.</p>
<h2>What needs to come next</h2>
<p>In 2015, after the government released their Reef 2050 Plan, UNESCO decided not to list the Reef as in danger, pending a 2016 assessment of progress. UNESCO is yet to make a recommendation, although the fact that the plan has very little mention of human-induced climate change may prove to be an issue.</p>
<p>Despite scientific outcry, the Australian government successfully lobbied UNESCO to remove the Great Barrier Reef and other Australian sites from its <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2016/may/30/australias-censorship-of-unesco-climate-report-is-like-a-shakespearean-tragedy">draft report on World Heritage and Tourism in a Changing Climate</a> in 2016.</p>
<p>In response to public concern, the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies held a <a href="http://www.nccarf.edu.au/sites/default/files/attached_files/GBR_PIB_WEB.pdf">policy consultation workshop</a> with stakeholders and experts from all levels of government, industry representatives, environmental NGOs and peak scientific bodies like the Australian Institute of Marine Science. Participants made various recommendations for reform, including:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>meeting the national climate mitigation challenge that <a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-paris-what-was-really-achieved-at-the-cop21-climate-summit-and-what-next-52320">Australia supported at COP21 in Paris</a> (first and foremost)</p></li>
<li><p>strengthening independent oversight of environmental decision-making (for example, reinstating the formal joint ministerial council)</p></li>
<li><p>reinstating the independence and diversity of the Great Barrier Reef Management Authority, by improving the role and composition of the board and executive management</p></li>
<li><p>properly costing and funding the protection of the Great Barrier Reef.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Yes, the Great Barrier Reef is in <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v543/n7645/full/nature21707.html">crisis</a>, but the coral-bleaching problem is also <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/03/22/1620830114">a governance disaster</a>. Regressive change, both large and small, has been masked by the complexity of the governance regime. Clear analysis of the minor and major transformations required to update the regime will be critical. If there’s no real reform, a UNESCO “in danger” listing seems inevitable.</p>
<p><em>This article was amended on April 16, 2016, to clarify two points. Environmental offsets for planning applications are voluntary, rather than mandatory as was originally stated. The original article also stated that funding for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority has plateaued; this was the case from 2005-15 but in December 2016 it was awarded an extra A$124 million in funding over 10 years.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/75053/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tiffany Morrison does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The Great Barrier Reef is in crisis, as a second wave of coral bleaching hits. But the system of bodies and laws that protect it are getting more complicated – and less productive.
Tiffany Morrison, Principal Research Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/74606
2017-03-15T19:16:20Z
2017-03-15T19:16:20Z
Year-on-year bleaching threatens Great Barrier Reef’s World Heritage status
<p>The Great Barrier Reef has already been badly <a href="https://theconversation.com/great-barrier-reef-bleaching-would-be-almost-impossible-without-climate-change-58408">damaged by global warming</a> during three extreme heatwaves, in 1998, 2002 and 2016. A <a href="http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/media-room/latest-news/coral-bleaching/2017/second-wave-of-mass-bleaching-unfolding-on-great-barrier-reef">new bleaching event</a> is under way now. </p>
<p>As shown in a <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature21707">study</a> published in Nature today, climate change is not some distant future threat. It has already degraded large tracts of the Great Barrier Reef over the past two decades.</p>
<p>The extreme marine heatwave in 2016 killed <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-much-coral-has-died-in-the-great-barrier-reefs-worst-bleaching-event-69494">two-thirds of the corals</a> along a 700km stretch of the northern Great Barrier Reef, from Port Douglas to Papua New Guinea. It was a game-changer for the reef and for how we manage it. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160816/original/image-20170314-13485-1xcoigd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160816/original/image-20170314-13485-1xcoigd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160816/original/image-20170314-13485-1xcoigd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=863&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160816/original/image-20170314-13485-1xcoigd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=863&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160816/original/image-20170314-13485-1xcoigd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=863&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160816/original/image-20170314-13485-1xcoigd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1084&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160816/original/image-20170314-13485-1xcoigd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1084&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160816/original/image-20170314-13485-1xcoigd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1084&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bleaching caused by extreme heat in summer 2016, based on extensive aerial surveys. Category 4 in red: 60-100% of colonies were bleached; Category 3 in orange: 30-60% bleached.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our study shows that we cannot climate-proof coral reefs by improving water quality or reducing fishing pressure. Reefs in clear water were damaged as much as muddy ones, and the hot water didn’t stop at the boundaries of no-fishing zones. There is nowhere to hide from global warming. The process of replacement of dead corals in the northern third of the reef will take at least 10-15 years for the fastest-growing species.</p>
<p>The Great Barrier Reef is internationally recognised as a World Heritage Area. In 2015 UNESCO, the world body with oversight of World Heritage Areas, considered <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-the-list-of-world-heritage-in-danger-15679">listing the reef as a site “in danger”</a> in light of <a href="http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/managing-the-reef/great-barrier-reef-outlook-report">declines in its health</a>. </p>
<h2>Australia’s response falling short</h2>
<p>In response to concerns from UNESCO, Australia devised a plan, called the <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/marine/gbr/long-term-sustainability-plan">Reef 2050 Long-term Sustainability Plan</a>. Its ultimate goal is to improve the “Outstanding Universal Value” of the reef: the attributes of the Great Barrier Reef that led to its inscription as a World Heritage Area in 1981. </p>
<p>We have written an <a href="https://independent.academia.edu/DiTarte">independent analysis</a>, delivered to UNESCO, which concludes that to date the implementation of the plan is far too slow and has not been adequately funded to prevent further degradation and loss of the reef’s values. A major shortcoming of the plan is that it virtually ignores the greatest current impact on the Great Barrier Reef: human-caused climate change.</p>
<p>The unprecedented loss of corals in 2016 has substantially diminished the condition of the World Heritage Area, reducing its biodiversity and aesthetic values. Key ecological processes are under threat, such as providing habitat, calcification (the formation of corals’ reef-building stony skeletons) and predation (creatures eating and being eaten by corals). Global warming means that Australia’s aim of ensuring the Great Barrier Reef’s values improve every decade between now and 2050 is no longer attainable for at least the next two decades.</p>
<h2>What needs to change</h2>
<p>Our report makes 27 recommendations for getting the Reef 2050 Plan back on track. The following are critical:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Address climate change and reduce emissions, both nationally and globally. The current lack of action on climate is a major policy failure for the Great Barrier Reef. Local action on water quality (the focus of the Reef 2050 Plan) does not prevent bleaching, or “buy time” for future action on emissions. Importantly, though, it does contribute to the recovery of coral reefs after major bleaching.</p></li>
<li><p>Reduce run-off of sediment, nutrients and pollutants from our towns and farms. To date the progress towards <a href="https://theconversation.com/great-barrier-reef-report-to-un-shows-the-poor-progress-on-water-quality-69779">achieving the water quality targets</a> and uptake of best management practice by farmers is very poor. Improving water quality can help recovery of corals, even if it doesn’t prevent mortality during extreme heatwaves.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/current-management-is-not-enough-to-halt-pollution-on-the-great-barrier-reef-49055">Provide adequate funding</a> for reaching net zero carbon emissions, for achieving the Reef 2050 Plan targets for improved water quality, and limiting other direct pressures on the reef.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>At this stage, we do not recommend that the reef be listed as “in danger”. But if we see more die-backs of corals in the next few years, little if any action on emissions and inadequate progress on water quality, then an “in danger” listing in 2020, when UNESCO will reconsider the Great Barrier Reef’s status, seems inevitable.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article was co-authored by <a href="https://independent.academia.edu/DiTarte">Diane Tarte</a>, co-director of Marine Ecosystem Policy Advisors Pty Ltd. She was a co-author of the independent report to UNESCO on the Great Barrier Reef.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74606/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Terry Hughes receives competitive research funding from the Australian Research Council. He is the lead author on today’s Nature paper on recurrent coral bleaching, and a co-author on the independent report to UNESCO on the Reef 2050 Plan.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Barry Hart does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond his position as Emeritus Professor, Monash University .</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karen Hussey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond her position as Professor and Deputy Director at the Global Change Institute, University of Queensland. </span></em></p>
The Great Barrier Reef is bleaching again. Without greater action on climate change and water quality, its World Heritage status could be listed as “in danger”.
Terry Hughes, Distinguished Professor, James Cook University, James Cook University
Barry Hart, Emeritus Professor Water Science, Monash University
Karen Hussey, Deputy Director, Global Change Institute, The University of Queensland
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/69882
2016-12-05T19:08:10Z
2016-12-05T19:08:10Z
Great Barrier Reef needs far more help than Australia claims in its latest report to UNESCO
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/148578/original/image-20161205-19407-1vlv37r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Great Barrier Reef's major threat is climate change. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Great Barrier Reef image from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>At first glance, the progress reports on the Great Barrier Reef released last week by the <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/marine/gbr/long-term-sustainability-plan">Australian</a> and <a href="http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/-/media/busind/Transport-sectors/Ports/maintenancedredgingstrategy/Maintenance-Dredging-Strategy---November-2016.pdf?la=en">Queensland</a> governments might seem impressive. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/marine/gbr/publications/reef-2050-plan-update-on-progress">update</a> on the Reef 2050 Plan suggests that 135 of the plan’s 151 actions are either complete or on track. </p>
<p>The Australian government’s apparent intention in releasing five recent reports is to reassure UNESCO that the Great Barrier Reef should not be listed as “World Heritage in Danger” (as the World Heritage Committee has <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/6049">previously threatened</a>).</p>
<p>Sadly, behind the verbosity and colour of these reports, there is disappointingly little evidence of progress in the key areas needed to make a significant difference to a World Heritage Area that is in <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-much-coral-has-died-in-the-great-barrier-reefs-worst-bleaching-event-69494">crisis</a>. </p>
<h2>Poor baseline</h2>
<p>The government framework for protecting and managing the Reef from 2015 to 2050, the <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/marine/gbr/publications/reef-2050-long-term-sustainability-plan">Reef 2050 Plan</a>, has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-plan-to-save-the-great-barrier-reef-is-destined-to-fail-unless-33542">widely criticised</a> as failing to provide a sound basis for the necessary long-term protection of the Reef. </p>
<p>As well as providing a shaky basis to build effective actions, the Reef 2050 Plan has few measurable or realistic targets. It is therefore not easy to report on the actual progress. </p>
<p>Several of the actions that will have the greatest impacts on the overall health of the Reef are shown in the progress reports as “not yet due”. In some cases, such as climate change, the Reef 2050 Plan is silent, instead simply referencing Australia’s national efforts on climate change. </p>
<p>Instead, the plan is to “[improve] the Reef’s resilience to climate change by reducing local pressures”. Besides addressing water quality, there are many things that should also be considered but they involve making some really hard decisions, such as choosing between <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/conl.12208/full">coal and coral</a>.</p>
<h2>Progress versus reality</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/e2b70193-91fa-49e6-95b2-b1aa8adb1d7c/files/annual-report-imp-plan-reef-2050-plan.pdf">overview of progress</a> claims that 135 of the 151 actions in the Reef 2050 Plan are either completed (dark green) or are on track for their expected milestones (light green), as shown below. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/148544/original/image-20161205-25645-i2se0s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/148544/original/image-20161205-25645-i2se0s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/148544/original/image-20161205-25645-i2se0s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=229&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148544/original/image-20161205-25645-i2se0s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=229&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148544/original/image-20161205-25645-i2se0s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=229&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148544/original/image-20161205-25645-i2se0s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=288&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148544/original/image-20161205-25645-i2se0s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=288&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148544/original/image-20161205-25645-i2se0s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=288&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/d12a31fc-7dac-42ae-a8c9-b39898cbfa26/files/reef-2050-update-progress.pdf">Reef 2050 Plan: Update on Progress, 2016</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The reality, however, is that many of the 103 of the actions described as “on track/underway” have not progressed as initially proposed when the Reef 2050 Plan was submitted to UNESCO, and that the definition of “underway” is far too loose to be meaningful.</p>
<p>Our rapid assessment of the status of actions indicates that the level of progress reported for at least 32 of these 151 actions (around 21%) has been overstated. The following are just some examples:</p>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Lu5zV/2/" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="750"></iframe>
<p>The unfortunate truth is that neither UNESCO nor the IUCN has the time or resources to conduct their own comprehensive assessment of the Great Barrier Reef. They rely heavily on these reports when deliberating on what to recommend to the World Heritage Committee, including whether the Reef should be placed on the World Heritage in Danger list. </p>
<p>Our rapid assessment indicates there are real concerns with relying on the government to self-report accurately. It would appear the only way that UNESCO will receive an accurate update is if that assessment is done independently of government. Fortunately, UNESCO and IUCN do consider other evidence.</p>
<p>It is also concerning that the members of the government’s Independent Expert Panel and the Reef 2050 Advisory Committee were not involved in making the final assessments for the 2016 update report. </p>
<p>Despite pronouncements that the Great Barrier Reef remains healthy, the evidence of the <a href="http://www.reefplan.qld.gov.au/measuring-success/report-cards/2015/">2015 Water Quality Report Card</a>, along with numerous expert opinions (for example, <a href="https://theconversation.com/great-barrier-reef-report-to-un-shows-the-poor-progress-on-water-quality-69779">Jon Brodie</a> on water quality; <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-much-coral-has-died-in-the-great-barrier-reefs-worst-bleaching-event-69494">Terry Hughes</a> on coral health; the <a href="https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/854449/Scallop-consultation-fact-sheet.pdf">Queensland government</a> on scallops; and the <a href="http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/21746/gbrmpa-VA-Snub-IPhumpback-11-7-12.pdf">Marine Park Authority</a> on inshore dolphins) shows that the real situation is not as rosy as UNESCO and the Australian public are being told.</p>
<h2>Some real progress, but not enough</h2>
<p>It is important to recognise some progress is being made – but sadly too little and not enough to reverse the declining trend for many of the values for which the Reef was listed as <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/154">World Heritage</a>. </p>
<p>We should also question some of the priorities in the Reef 2050 Plan given the widely acknowledged critical issues (see page 252 in the government’s 2014 <a href="http://elibrary.gbrmpa.gov.au/jspui/handle/11017/2855">Outlook Report</a>). Adopting best practice for water quality from point sources such as sewage discharge (action WQA11 under the plan) and protecting habitat for coastal dolphins (BA12) should be immediately addressed. </p>
<p>Whether we have the money to do what’s necessary is another question. The government’s pledge to spend A$2 billion over 10 years is the current collective yearly spending (A$200 million) of four federal agencies, six state agencies and several major research programs, extrapolated over the coming decade. </p>
<p>While the level of funding is significant compared with many other World Heritage areas, the amount and priorities must be questioned, given that many of the Reef’s values are continuing to decline.</p>
<p>So far most funding has been spent on addressing water quality, and while this has achieved some positive results, it has not managed to stop the deteriorating trends. </p>
<p>As Jon Brodie <a href="https://theconversation.com/great-barrier-reef-report-to-un-shows-the-poor-progress-on-water-quality-69779">recently wrote</a> on The Conversation: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-8-2-billion-water-bill-to-clean-up-the-barrier-reef-by-2025-and-where-to-start-62685">best estimate</a> is that meeting water quality targets by 2025 will cost A$8.2 billion … If we assume that … A$4 billion is needed over the next five years, the amounts mentioned in the progress report (perhaps A$500-600 million at most) are … totally inadequate.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>More action needed</h2>
<p>The Reef is unquestionably of global significance. Given its sheer size and location, no other World Heritage Area on the planet includes such biodiversity. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-much-coral-has-died-in-the-great-barrier-reefs-worst-bleaching-event-69494">worst-known bleaching event in the Great Barrier Reef</a> demonstrates the limitations of the Reef 2050 Plan, which is silent on the impact of <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/conl.12208/full">greenhouse emissions from Queensland’s coal mines</a> and the effects of climate change more generally.</p>
<p>Governments have an obligation to protect all the Reef’s values for future generations. To do this they must recognise <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/nov/15/global-climate-change-action-unstoppable-despite-trump">growing global moves to address climate change</a>, and the widespread <a href="http://www.wwf.org.au/get-involved/eyesonthereef/eyesonthereef">national</a> and <a href="http://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?248412">international</a> expectations that more <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/to-save-the-great-barrier-reef-we-must-phase-out-fossil-fuels--and-fast-20161123-gsvq72.html">needs to be done</a> to protect the Reef. </p>
<p>Australia is a relatively rich country and has the technical capability to address the issues. This provides an opportunity to show some global leadership for managing such a significant part of the world’s heritage.</p>
<p>Listing the reef as World Heritage in Danger won’t in itself fix the problems – but it will certainly focus the spotlight on the issues. </p>
<p>As the World Heritage Committee prepares for its next meeting in July 2017, and considers once again whether to officially list the reef as in danger, it will need to study all the evidence, not just the government’s reports. </p>
<p>Certainly the true picture is more complicated and dire than the most recent government reports imply.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/69882/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alana Grech receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jon Brodie is a partner in the environmental consulting partnership C2O.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jon C. Day does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The government’s latest report to UNESCO on the Great Barrier Reef paints a rosy picture.
Jon C. Day, PhD candidate, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University
Alana Grech, Assistant Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University
Jon Brodie, Professorial Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/69779
2016-12-02T04:55:05Z
2016-12-02T04:55:05Z
Great Barrier Reef report to UN shows the poor progress on water quality
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/148379/original/image-20161202-25660-1ikvmwt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Water quality is one of the biggest threats facing the Great Barrier Reef. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tgerus/5327345774/">Tatters ❀/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Australian and Queensland governments have delivered their <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/d12a31fc-7dac-42ae-a8c9-b39898cbfa26/files/reef-2050-update-progress.pdf">progress report</a> to the UN on the <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/marine/gbr/long-term-sustainability-plan">Reef 2050 Plan</a> to ensure the long-term survival of the Great Barrier Reef.</p>
<p>The report focuses on water quality, and managing pollution runoff, but only deals in a superficial way with the other preeminent issue for the reef - climate change.</p>
<p>It shows recent progress on water quality has been slow, and ultimately we will not meet water quality targets without major further investments. </p>
<h2>Progress?</h2>
<p>The progress report claims some success in managing water quality through improved practices in sugarcane cultivation under the SmartCane program, and in rangeland grazing. </p>
<p>But actual reductions in sediment and nutrients loads to the reef over the last two years have been very small, as shown in the <a href="http://www.reefplan.qld.gov.au/measuring-success/report-cards/2015/">Reef Report Card 2015</a>. This contrasts with the first five years of Reef Plan (2008-2013) where there was modest progress, as you can see below.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/148373/original/image-20161202-25663-386cbd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/148373/original/image-20161202-25663-386cbd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/148373/original/image-20161202-25663-386cbd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148373/original/image-20161202-25663-386cbd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148373/original/image-20161202-25663-386cbd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148373/original/image-20161202-25663-386cbd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148373/original/image-20161202-25663-386cbd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148373/original/image-20161202-25663-386cbd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.reefplan.qld.gov.au/measuring-success/report-cards/2015/assets/gbr-2015report-card.pdf">Great Barrier Reef Report Card 2015</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The positive news out of the Report Card was that grain cropping and non-banana horticulture were doing well, but these are the industries we have little robust data on. </p>
<p>And there’s been little progress towards adequate management practices in sugarcane and rangeland grazing as well as gully remediation in the large dry tropics catchments of the Burdekin, Fitzroy and Normanby. </p>
<p>The specific actions and funding promised in this area over the next five years mentioned in the progress report which have some real substance are:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Direct a further A$110 million of <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/marine/gbr/reef-trust">Reef Trust</a> funding towards projects to improve water</p></li>
<li><p>Bring forward the review of the <a href="http://www.reefplan.qld.gov.au/">Reef Water Quality Protection Plan</a> and set new scientifically based pollutant load targets</p></li>
<li><p>Invest A$33 million of Queensland government funding into two major integrated projects</p></li>
<li><p>Better prioritise of water quality as a major theme in Reef 2050 Plan.</p></li>
</ol>
<h2>What we need to do</h2>
<p>However these fall far short of the real requirements to meet water quality targets on the reef, set out in the Reef 2050 Plan and the <a href="http://www.reefplan.qld.gov.au/">Reef Water Quality Protection Plan</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-8-2-billion-water-bill-to-clean-up-the-barrier-reef-by-2025-and-where-to-start-62685">best estimate </a> is that meeting water quality targets by 2025 will cost A$8.2 billion. <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272771416301469">Other estimates</a> suggest we’ll need at least A$5-10 billion over the next ten years. </p>
<p>If we assume that about A$4 billion is needed over the next five years, the amounts mentioned in the progress report (perhaps A$500-600 million at most) are obviously totally inadequate. </p>
<p>There is thus almost no chance the targets will be reached at the nominated time. </p>
<p>This reality has been <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/environment/time-to-act-damage-to-great-barrier-reef-worse-than-thought-surveys-find-20161124-gswy1z.html">clearly acknowledged by Dr David Wachenfeld</a>, the Director of Reef Recovery at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. In fact the current progress towards the targets is so poor that we will not even get close.</p>
<p>The actions actually needed to manage water quality for the Great Barrier Reef are well known and have been published in the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/environment/time-to-act-damage-to-great-barrier-reef-worse-than-thought-surveys-find-20161124-gswy1z.html">Queensland Science Taskforce Report</a>
and <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.13262/pdf">scientific papers</a>.</p>
<p>The most important of these are:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Allocate sufficient funding (A$4 billion over the next five years)</p></li>
<li><p>Use the legislative powers already available to the Australian government under the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act (1975) and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act) to regulate agriculture and other activities in the reef’s water catchment</p></li>
<li><p>Examine seriously the need for land use change in the reef catchment. For example, we may need to look at shifting away from more intensive forms of land use such as cropping, which produce more pollutants per hectare, to less intensive activities such as beef grazing, forestry or conservation uses</p></li>
<li><p>Continue to improve land management in sugarcane, beef grazing and horticulture but acknowledge the need to extend these programs. We also need better practices in urban and coastal development</p></li>
<li><p>Critically examine the economics and environmental consequences of the further expansion of intensive agriculture in the reef’s catchment as promoted under the Australian government’s <a href="http://northernaustralia.gov.au/">Northern Australian Development Plan</a></p></li>
</ol>
<p>Progress on water quality management for the Great Barrier Reef, as clearly reported in the 2015 Report Card is poor. There is little chance we will reach the water quality targets in the next ten years, without upping our game.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/69779/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jon Brodie is also a partner in the consulting partnership C2O. See: <a href="http://www.c2o.net.au/">http://www.c2o.net.au/</a></span></em></p>
Australia will almost certainly miss its water quality targets for the Great Barrier Reef.
Jon Brodie, Professorial Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/67449
2016-11-01T19:07:00Z
2016-11-01T19:07:00Z
Four environmental reasons why fast-tracking the Carmichael coal mine is a bad idea
<p>Pressure is mounting for Adani’s Carmichael coal mine to proceed in inland Queensland. Recently the state government quietly gave the project <a href="http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2016/10/9/queensland-government-steps-up-to-progress-adani-mine-project">“critical infrastructure” status</a> to prioritise its development. </p>
<p>Providing this level of government status to a private enterprise is unusual – the last time it happened was in the early <a href="http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2016/10/9/queensland-government-steps-up-to-progress-adani-mine-project">2000s</a>, and it is usually reserved for projects associated with national security, public education and health. </p>
<p>In response to delays and finance issues, Adani has also reportedly scaled back its <a href="http://www.afr.com/opinion/columnists/adani-prepares-for-an-end-to-lawfare-with-a-smaller-cheaper-carmichael-20160921-grla4o">initial proposal</a> to increase the mine’s viability. There are also <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/12bn-economic-cost-of-environmental-lawfare/news-story/2fd02e9c4a79548666d3c5b30c5254ab">growing political calls</a> to weaken the ability of environmental groups to challenge infrastructure projects. </p>
<p>Others have commented on the mine’s issues around <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/adani-carmichael-mine-to-create-1464-jobs-not-10000-20150427-1mumbg.html">employment</a>, <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/adani-must-prove-financial-viabiltiy-for-carmichael-mine-minister-20161009-gryd3p.html">finance</a>, and <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-19/indigenous-challenge-to-adani-carmichael-coal-mine-dismissed/7765466">indigenous</a> and rural communities. But as ecologists, there are four good reasons why we believe the mine should not go ahead. </p>
<h2>Climate change</h2>
<p>To meet the obligations under the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-paris-climate-agreement-at-a-glance-50465">Paris climate agreement</a> to limit warming to well below 2°C, it is widely accepted that 90% of Australia’s coal will need to <a href="https://theconversation.com/unburnable-carbon-why-we-need-to-leave-fossil-fuels-in-the-ground-40467">stay in the ground</a>. </p>
<p>The proposed extraction of <a href="http://envlaw.com.au/carmichael-coal-mine-case/">2.3 billion tonnes</a> of coal from the Carmichael mine flies in the face of global efforts to stop climate change. The emissions from the coal from this one mine would exceed <a href="http://envlaw.com.au/carmichael-coal-mine-case/">0.5% of the entire global carbon budget</a> – the <a href="https://theconversation.com/setting-a-carbon-budget-to-keep-below-two-degrees-18841">total amount of carbon</a> than can be emitted without exceeding 2°C warming. </p>
<p>Put another way, the <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/cb8a9e41-eba5-47a4-8b72-154d0a5a6956/files/carmichael-statement-reasons.pdf">4.7 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions</a> associated with the mine will be equivalent to nine times Australia’s <a href="http://ageis.climatechange.gov.au">overall emissions in 2014</a>.</p>
<p>Yet these emissions have been given little consideration in the mine’s approval process. Adani’s <a href="http://eisdocs.dsdip.qld.gov.au/Carmichael%20Coal%20Mine%20and%20Rail/EIS/Appendices/T-Mine-Greenhouse-Gas-Report.pdf">Environmental Impact Statement</a> makes little reference to the mine’s “downstream” emissions, and Australia’s former environment minister Greg Hunt, in his <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/cb8a9e41-eba5-47a4-8b72-154d0a5a6956/files/carmichael-statement-reasons.pdf">reasons</a> for approving the mine, said the emissions would be “managed and mitigated through national and international emissions control frameworks”, including in those countries that import the coal. </p>
<p>Following an appeal challenging Hunt’s assertion that these emissions would have no directly quantifiable impact on the Great Barrier Reef, the Federal Court found that the minister was entitled to find that the burning of the coal will have <a href="http://www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au/judgments/Judgments/fca/single/2016/2016fca1042">no relevant impact</a> on the reef. </p>
<h2>The Great Barrier Reef</h2>
<p>The shipping of coal from the Carmichael mine is contingent upon redeveloping the shipping port at Abbot Point, which requires dredging the seabed. </p>
<p>Following public opposition to dumping dredge spoil at sea, the most recently approved proposal is to dredge 1.1 million cubic metres of the seabed and <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/cb8a9e41-eba5-47a4-8b72-154d0a5a6956/files/factsheet-abbot-point.pdf">dump the spoil on land</a> next to the Caley Valley Wetlands. </p>
<p>The wetlands are important habitat for at least <a href="http://fightforthereef.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/140911-Caley-Valley-values-report1.pdf">22 migratory shore birds</a> listed under the national environmental legislation, so the current plan is still contentious. </p>
<p>The current plan to dump the dredge spoil on land still <a href="https://theconversation.com/dumping-abbot-point-dredge-spoil-on-land-wont-save-the-reef-38716">won’t save the reef</a> because the actual dredging process removes the seabed, along with the seagrass and animals that survive there. </p>
<p>Dredging also releases fine <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-can-we-say-for-certain-about-dredging-and-the-great-barrier-reef-39181">sediments</a>, reducing water quality while smothering surrounding seagrass beds and coral reefs, with some <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272771414000894">models predicting the spread of fine sediments</a> up to 200km from where the activity took place, within 90 days. </p>
<p>Corals exposed to dredge material are twice as prone to suffer <a href="https://theconversation.com/dredge-spoil-linked-to-coral-disease-wa-study-shows-29265">disease</a>. Improving water quality is a key factor for <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-will-the-barrier-reef-recover-from-the-death-of-one-third-of-its-northern-corals-60186">increasing the resilience</a> of coral reefs to major bleaching events.</p>
<h2>Water</h2>
<p>The Carmichael Mine as currently proposed would extract <a href="http://eisdocs.dsdip.qld.gov.au/Carmichael%20Coal%20Mine%20and%20Rail/SEIS/Appendices/Appendix%20K/Appendix-K2-Water-Balance-Report.pdf">12 billion litres</a> of water each year. Removing this water to access the coal seam will reduce water pressure in the aquifer (rock that stores water underground), with knock-on effects. The mine is situated close to <a href="https://theconversation.com/water-in-water-out-assessing-the-future-of-the-great-artesian-basin-13104">the Great Artesian Basin</a>, a <a href="http://www.agforceqld.org.au/index.php?page_id=170">key resource for agriculture</a> across inland Australia</p>
<p>For instance, this drawdown could reduce water reaching the Mellaluka and Doongmabulla Springs Complexes, which have exceedingly high <a href="https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/auscon/pages/1330/attachments/original/1473390616/Carmichael_conditions_report.pdf?1473390616">conservation value</a>. These springs are some of the largest examples remaining and provide habitat for many species of specialised plants that are only known from spring-fed wetlands. </p>
<p>If the springs go dry, even temporarily, endemic species will not survive and will become extinct at the site.</p>
<p>Removing groundwater is expected to increase the duration of <a href="http://www.iesc.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/fc3719de-55c6-4bac-abaa-409733668f3d/files/iiesc-advice-carmichael.pdf">zero- or low-flow periods</a> in the Carmichael River system. The communities and ecosystems in the region are already highly <a href="https://theconversation.com/queensland-risks-running-the-well-dry-by-gifting-water-to-coal-34752">reliant on groundwater</a>, due to variable surface waters. This could also affect the acidity and salinity of soils. </p>
<p>Clearing the land for the mine itself – <a href="https://theconversation.com/approval-of-australias-largest-coal-mine-ignores-climate-and-water-29780">an area</a> equivalent to Queensland’s Moreton Island - will likely <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13504509.2013.850752">reduce local rainfall</a> considerably.</p>
<p>Due to the high uncertainty surrounding groundwater, the independent scientific committee <a href="http://www.iesc.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/fc3719de-55c6-4bac-abaa-409733668f3d/files/iiesc-advice-carmichael.pdf">recommended improvements in groundwater modelling and monitoring</a> before proceeding with the project. The high degree of uncertainty and inadequate treatment of groundwater impacts in the Environmental Impact Statement were the subject of legal proceedings in the <a href="http://envlaw.com.au/wp-content/uploads/carmichael2.pdf%22%22">Land Court in 2015</a>. </p>
<h2>Threatened species</h2>
<p>The Carmichael mine site is home to the <a href="http://www.birdlife.org.au/documents/NEWS-Black-throated_Finch_Recovery_Team_Position_Statement_Galilee_Basin.pdf">largest known population</a> of the endangered southern Black-throated finch (<em>Poephila cincta cincta</em>), which has lost <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/f164f090-6c72-4e29-a91b-0037b82f4250/files/p-cincta.pdf">80% of its former habitat</a>.</p>
<p>The intact areas of continuous habitat in this region - such as that at the mine site - have so far remained in good condition and relatively free of the invasive weed species that are contributing to the finch’s decline in other parts of its range. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.birdlife.org.au/documents/NEWS-Black-throated_Finch_Recovery_Team_Position_Statement_Galilee_Basin.pdf">Black-throated Finch Recovery Team highlighted</a> their concern over the Carmichael development with state and federal agencies. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/143863/original/image-20161031-15821-1qg7rt3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/143863/original/image-20161031-15821-1qg7rt3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/143863/original/image-20161031-15821-1qg7rt3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/143863/original/image-20161031-15821-1qg7rt3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/143863/original/image-20161031-15821-1qg7rt3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/143863/original/image-20161031-15821-1qg7rt3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/143863/original/image-20161031-15821-1qg7rt3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/143863/original/image-20161031-15821-1qg7rt3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Conservationists have expressed concerns over the mine’s impact on the black-throated finch.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Eric Vanderduys</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Adani has proposed to offset the loss of finch habitat resulting from the mine by protecting alternative, nearby habitat. But losing the best remaining habitat means the most viable population will be compromised. Experts have warned that <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0148485">offseting</a> the loss of habitat from mine development will not avoid serious detrimental impacts on the finch. </p>
<p>Keeping this habitat <a href="http://uqld.csiro.patron.eb20.com.ezproxy.library.uq.edu.au/Collections/ViewBook/bef97dee-fd37-4e71-ab9d-59691867c665">intact</a>, continuous and unfragmented will be key to maintaining its suitability for the finch. The only way to avoid severely impacting the finch is to avoid destroying its high-quality habitat – which would mean not digging the mine in these areas. </p>
<h2>A brighter future</h2>
<p>Giving the mine “critical infrastructure” status allows special dispensations to ignore normal approval processes. And this decision sends a signal to the wider community that this type of short-term thinking is front and centre in the state government’s mind. </p>
<p>Given the clear environmental impacts this mine will have, not just for the region but for the whole planet, we question the effectiveness of Australia’s current environmental laws that have allowed it to be approved. We believe it is time to place the entire social and environmental costs and benefits of this mine on the public table, and ask the question of the politicians who are meant to make decisions in our best interest: is the short-term profit of selling some coal worth it?</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article was written with the help of Claire Stewart and Courtney Jackson, students in the Masters of Conservation Science program and members of the <a href="http://greenfirescience.wixsite.com/home">Green Fire Science Lab</a> at the University of Queensland.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/67449/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>April Reside receives funding from NESP Threatened Species Recovery Hub. She is a scientific advisor for the Black-throated Finch Recovery Team and is on Birdlife Australia's Research and Conservation Committee. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bonnie Mappin receives funding from the University of Queensland Research Scholarship.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Watson receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He is the Director of Science and Research Initiative of the Wildlife Conservation Society. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Chapman is supported by an APA Scholarship. She is a PhD candidate at the University of Queensland.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Kearney is supported by an APA Scholarship and has received funding from NESP Threatened Species Recovery Hub. </span></em></p>
Queensland’s planned new coal mine could impact the climate, the Great Barrier Reef, water, and local species. Yet still it has been declared as ‘critical infrastructure’ by the state government.
April Reside, Researcher, Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland
Bonnie Mappin, PhD Candidate, Conservation Science, The University of Queensland
James Watson, Associate professor, The University of Queensland
Sarah Chapman, PhD Candidate, The University of Queensland
Stephen Kearney, PhD Candidate , The University of Queensland
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/62685
2016-08-11T20:04:05Z
2016-08-11T20:04:05Z
The $8.2 billion water bill to clean up the Barrier Reef by 2025 – and where to start
<p>In 2015, the Australian and Queensland governments agreed on targets to <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/marine/gbr/publications/reef-2050-long-term-sustainability-plan">greatly reduce the sediment and nutrient pollutants</a> flowing onto the Great Barrier Reef. </p>
<p>What we do on land has a real impact out on the reef: sediments can smother the corals, while high nutrient levels help to trigger more regular and larger outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish. This damage leaves the Great Barrier Reef even more vulnerable to climate change, storms, cyclones and other impacts. </p>
<p>Dealing with water quality alone isn’t enough to protect the reef, as many others have <a href="https://theconversation.com/great-barrier-reef-pollution-controls-are-not-enough-heres-what-we-can-do-52861">pointed out before</a>. But it is an essential ingredient in making it more resilient. </p>
<p>The water quality targets call for sediment runoff to be reduced by up to 50% below 2009 levels by 2025, and for nitrogen levels to be cut by up to 80% over the same period. But so far, detailed information about the costs of achieving these targets has not been available.</p>
<p>Both the Australian and Queensland governments have committed more funding to improve water quality on the reef. In addition, the Queensland government established the <a href="http://www.gbr.qld.gov.au/taskforce/">Great Barrier Reef Water Science Taskforce</a>, a panel of 21 experts from science, industry, conservation and government, led by Queensland Chief Scientist Geoff Garrett and funded by Queensland’s Department of Environment and Heritage Protection.</p>
<p>New work commissioned by the taskforce now gives us an idea of the <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/marine/gbr/publications/highlights-long-term-sustainability-plan">likely cost of meeting those reef water quality targets</a>.</p>
<p>This <a href="http://www.gbr.qld.gov.au/documents/costings-report.pdf">groundbreaking study</a>, which drew on the expertise of water quality researchers, economists and “paddock to reef” modellers, has found that investing A$8.2 billion would get us to those targets by the 2025 deadline, albeit with a little more to be done in the Wet Tropics.</p>
<p>That A$8.2 billion cost is half the size of the estimates of between A$16 billion and A$17 billion discussed in a draft-for-comment report produced in May 2016, which were <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-02/great-barrier-reef-pollution-fight-could-cost-billions/7469740">reported by the ABC</a> and other media.</p>
<p>Those draft figures did not take into account the reductions in pollution already achieved between 2009 and 2013. They also included full steps of measures that then exceeded the targets. A full review process identified these, and now this modelling gives a more accurate estimate of what it would cost to deliver the targets using the knowledge and technology available today.</p>
<h2>A future for farming</h2>
<p>Importantly, the research confirms that a well-managed agricultural sector can continue to coexist with a healthy reef through improvements to land management practices. </p>
<p>Even more heartening is the report’s finding that we can get halfway to the nitrogen and sediment targets by spending around A$600 million in the most cost-effective areas. This is very important because prioritising these areas enables significant improvement while allowing time to focus on finding solutions that will more cost-effectively close the remaining gap.</p>
<p>Among those priority solutions are improving land and farm management practices, such as adopting best management practices among cane growers to reduce fertiliser loss, and in grazing to reduce soil loss. </p>
<p>While these actions have been the focus of many water quality programs to date, much more can be done. For example, we can have a significant impact on pollutants in the Great Barrier Reef water catchments by achieving much higher levels of adoption and larger improvements to practices such as maintaining grass cover in grazing areas and reducing and better targeting fertiliser use in cane and other cropping settings. These activities will be a focus of the two major integrated projects that will result from the taskforce’s recommendations.</p>
<h2>A new agenda</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.gbr.qld.gov.au/documents/costings-report.pdf">new study</a>, produced by environmental consultancy <a href="http://www.alluvium.com.au/">Alluvium</a> and a range of other researchers (and for which I was one of the <a href="http://www.gbr.qld.gov.au/documents/external-review-report.pdf">external peer reviewers</a>), is significant because nothing on this scale involving the Great Barrier Reef and policy costings has been done before.</p>
<p>Guidelines already <a href="http://www.gbr.qld.gov.au/taskforce/final-report/">released by the taskforce</a> tell us a lot about what we need to do to protect the reef. Each of its ten recommendations now has <a href="http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2016/8/11/government-agrees-to-all-reef-taskforce-recommendations">formal government agreement and implementation has begun</a>.</p>
<p>Alluvium’s consultants and other experts who contributed to the study – including researchers from <a href="https://www.cqu.edu.au/">CQ University</a> and <a href="https://www.jcu.edu.au/">James Cook University</a> – were asked to investigate how much could be achieved, and at what price, by action in the following seven areas:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Land management practice change for cane and grazing</p></li>
<li><p>Improved irrigation practices</p></li>
<li><p>Gully remediation</p></li>
<li><p>Streambank repair</p></li>
<li><p>Wetland construction</p></li>
<li><p>Changes to land use</p></li>
<li><p>Urban stormwater management</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Those seven areas for potential action were chosen on the basis of modelling data and expert opinion as the most feasible to achieve the level of change required to achieve the targets. By modelling the cost of delivering these areas and the change to nutrient and sediments entering the reef, the consultants were able to identify which activities were cheapest through to the most expensive across five catchment areas (Wet Tropics, Burdekin, Mackay-Whitsunday, Fitzroy and Burnett Mary).</p>
<p>Alluvium’s study confirmed the water science taskforce’s <a href="http://www.gbr.qld.gov.au/documents/gbrwst-finalreport-2016.pdf">recommendation</a> that investing in some catchments and activities along the Great Barrier Reef is likely to prove more valuable than in others, in both an environmental and economic sense. </p>
<p>Some actions have much lower costs and are more certain; these should be implemented first. Other actions are much more expensive. Of the total A$8.2 billion cost of meeting the targets, two-thirds (A$5.59 billion) could be spent on addressing gully remediation in just one water catchment (the Fitzroy region). Projects with such high costs are impractical and highly unlikely to be implemented at the scale required.</p>
<p>The Alluvium study suggests we would be wise not to invest too heavily in some costly repair measures such as wetland construction for nutrient removal just yet – at least until we have exhausted all of the cheaper options, tried to find other cost-effective ways of reaching the targets, and encouraged innovative landholders and other entrepreneurs to try their hand at finding ways to reduce costs.</p>
<h2>The value of a healthier reef</h2>
<p>The A$8.2 billion funding requirement between now and 2025 is large, but let’s look at it in context. It’s still significantly less than the <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/water/publications/infrastrucutre-investment-%20murray-darling-basin-fact-sheet">A$13 billion</a> that the Australian government is investing in the Murray-Darling Basin.</p>
<p>It would also be an important investment in protecting the more than <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/a3ef2e3f-37fc-%204c6f-ab1b-3b54ffc3f449/files/gbr-economic-%20contribution.pdf">A$5 billion a year</a> that the reef generates for the Australian economy and for Queensland communities.</p>
<p>The immediate focus should be on better allocating available funds and looking for more effective solutions to meet the targets to protect the reef. More work is still needed to ensure we do so. </p>
<p>If we start by targeting the most cost-effective A$1 billion-worth of measures, that should get us more than halfway towards achieving the 2025 targets. The challenge now is to develop <a href="http://www.gbr.qld.gov.au/documents/gbrwst-finalreport-2016.pdf">new ideas and solutions</a> to deliver those expensive last steps in improving water quality. The Alluvium report provides a valuable tool long-term to ensure the most cost-effective interventions are chosen to protect the Great Barrier Reef.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article was written with contributions from Geoff Garrett, Stuart Whitten, Steve Skull, Euan Morton, Tony Weber and Christine Williams.</em></p>
<p><em>Read more of The Conversation’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/great-barrier-reef">Great Barrier Reef</a> coverage, including articles by experts including <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jon-brodie-%208141/articles">Jon Brodie</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ove-hoegh-%20guldberg-2012/articles">Ove Hoegh-Guldberg</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/62685/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Rolfe has previously received funding from the National Environmental Research Program and the National Environmental Science Program for economic studies evaluating the costs and benefits of reef protection.</span></em></p>
A groundbreaking new economic study has found that investing A$8.2 billion would get us very close to hitting targets to cut water pollution into the Great Barrier Reef by 2025.
John Rolfe, Professor of Regional Economic Development, School of Business and Law, CQUniversity Australia
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/60108
2016-05-27T06:26:48Z
2016-05-27T06:26:48Z
Climate change, tourism and the Great Barrier Reef: what we know
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124287/original/image-20160527-867-gtkevg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Perception is everything when it comes to Great Barrier Reef tourism. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reef image from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The removal of an <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/27/revealed-the-report-on-the-great-barrier-reef-that-australia-didnt-want-the-world-to-see">entire section on the Great Barrier Reef</a> from an <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/global-warming-impacts/world-heritage-tourism-sites-climate-change-risks#.V0fQYpN96X0">international report</a> on World Heritage and climate change has been justified by the Australian government because of the impact on tourism. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/27/australia-scrubbed-from-un-climate-change-report-after-government-intervention">The Guardian</a> reported that all mention of Australia has been removed from the report released on Friday. An Environment Department spokesperson was quoted as saying that “recent experience in Australia had shown that negative commentary about the status of World Heritage properties impacted on tourism”. </p>
<p>Australia is the only populated continent that was not mentioned in the report, which was produced by <a href="http://en.unesco.org/">UNESCO</a>, <a href="http://www.unep.org/">UNEP</a>, and the <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/">Union of Concerned Scientists</a>. It comes in the wake of one of the Great Barrier Reef’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/great-barrier-reef-bleaching-stats-are-bad-enough-without-media-misreporting-58283">most significant coral bleaching events</a> – one <a href="https://theconversation.com/great-barrier-reef-bleaching-would-be-almost-impossible-without-climate-change-58408">widely attributed to climate change</a>. </p>
<h2>What’s to hide?</h2>
<p>In its purest sense, it could be argued that it is important for the world to know about the impacts climate change is having on some of its most famous natural wonders. This has the potential to precipitate national and global policy change that might ultimately help the reef. </p>
<p>It could also be argued that much of the damage to perceptions of people around the world has already been done. The final episode of <a href="http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/david-attenboroughs-great-barrier-reef/ZW0220A001S00">David Attenborough’s documentary on the Great Barrier Reef</a> – which discusses the widespread bleaching in detail – arguably has far more potential to influence would-be tourists contemplating a visit to the reef. </p>
<p>News coverage of the events has reached audiences as far afield as the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/10/world/asia/climate-related-death-of-coral-around-world-alarms-scientists.html?_r=0">United States</a> and <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-35914009">Britain</a>. And a recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-pictures-a-close-up-look-at-the-great-barrier-reefs-bleaching-57495?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20April%2013%202016%20-%204658&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20April%2013%202016%20-%204658+CID_7a8b6dbec1dd3aa23c71d69155def9f0&utm_source=campaign_monitor&utm_term=picture%20essay">picture essay</a> on The Conversation provides evidence of the bleaching, observing the phenomenon as “a huge blow to all Australians who cherish this natural wonder and to the tourists who flock here to see the reef”.</p>
<h2>The impact on tourism</h2>
<p>Given that the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/great-barrier-reef-threats-series">issues on the reef</a> are well known and widely covered, would the UNESCO report really have had an impact? </p>
<p>The Cairns tourism industry is a vital export earner, not only for the region but for the nation. The region has more than <a href="http://media.ttnq.org.au/_documents/9-037775feaa06674b8f58c71ce011be59.pdf">2.4 million visitors per year, contributing A$3.1 billion to the economy</a>, with the Great Barrier Reef as its anchor attraction.</p>
<p>Adding complexity to the issue, there is debate locally as to how widespread the coral bleaching reported by scientists really is.</p>
<p>The tourism industry in Cairns has been quick to counter scientists’ claims with its own. Tour operator Quicksilver has responded with <a href="http://www.quicksilver-cruises.com/information/reefhealth/">Reef Health Updates</a> featuring a marine biologist who claims that as the water cools through winter, many of the coral are likely to regain their colour. </p>
<p>Tourists have also been interviewed for the campaign, emerging from the water amazed and astounded at the diversity of colour and marine life they have seen. </p>
<p>Regional tourism organisation Tourism Tropical North Queensland has also begun a <a href="http://www.ttnq.org.au/great-barrier-reef-colour-to-be-on-show/">campaign</a> to showcase undamaged parts of the reef.</p>
<p>Tourism is a perception-based activity. Expectations of pristine waters and diverse marine life on a World Heritage-listed reef are what drives the Cairns and North Queensland tourism industry in Australia. </p>
<p>We know from <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J073v23n02_13">past research</a> that perceptions of damage to the natural environment from events such as cyclones do influence travel decisions, but we do not yet know how this translates to coral bleaching events.</p>
<p>Researchers in the region are working to collect data from tourists about how their pre-existing perceptions of coral cover and colour match their actual experiences. </p>
<p>This will provide evidence of the impacts of the bleaching event on the tourist experience and also shed light on what has shaped tourists’ perceptions prior to visiting. Currently, we only have anecdotal evidence from operators and the tourist interviews in the Quicksilver video on what these impacts really are.</p>
<h2>What impact could this have on the reef?</h2>
<p>From another perspective, tourism is particularly valuable to the reef because it is a relatively clean industry that relies on the preservation, rather than depletion, of the resource for its own survival. </p>
<p>The Great Barrier Reef is a resource of value to both tourism and other industries. In the past, the reef has narrowly escaped gas mining, oil spill disasters and overfishing, not to mention the ongoing impacts of land-based industries along the coast that drains to it. </p>
<p>It is important to remember that the original World Heritage listing was “<a href="https://theconversation.com/great-barrier-reef-decision-is-a-u-turn-to-an-inglorious-past-21427">born out of a 12-year popular struggle to prevent the most wondrous coral reef in the world from being destroyed by uncontrolled mining</a>”. This raises questions about whether the comparative economic importance of mining and other industries could increase if tourism declines.</p>
<p>The message about the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/great-barrier-reef-threats-series">threats to the Great Barrier Reef</a> is already in the public domain. Research is still being done on the true impact of the bleaching event and associated perceptions on the tourism industry, and the results are not yet conclusive. </p>
<p>Rather than bury information that many people globally already have access to, perhaps the Australian government could think more creatively about how it is addressing the issues and promoting this as a positive campaign for <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/world/gbr">“one of the best managed marine areas in the world”</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60108/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Allison Anderson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above.</span></em></p>
All mention of Australia has been removed from an international report on climate change on the grounds that it would damage tourism. Here’s the evidence.
Allison Anderson, Lecturer in tourism planning and development, CQUniversity Australia
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/59827
2016-05-25T06:06:20Z
2016-05-25T06:06:20Z
Queensland commits to fixing water quality in the Great Barrier Reef
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/123906/original/image-20160525-25213-1phjnwt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Fixing water pollution on the Great Barrier Reef will take a huge effort. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reef image from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Current measures are not enough to protect the Great Barrier Reef, according to experts in a government report released today.</p>
<p>After a year of careful analysis, the <a href="http://www.gbr.qld.gov.au/taskforce/">Great Barrier Reef Water Science Taskforce</a> has delivered its final report to the Queensland environment minister, Steven Miles. This is part of efforts to resource the <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/marine/gbr/long-term-sustainability-plan">Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan</a>, which was designed to meet the challenges facing the reef.</p>
<p>The report is part of the response to the United Nations’ concerns that the reef is in danger of irreparable damage – with declining water quality from farming and land-use change being a major driver. The reef narrowly <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-barrier-reef-is-not-listed-as-in-danger-but-the-threats-remain-42548">missed being listed as “in danger”</a> in 2015. </p>
<p>The Queensland government has committed A$90 million over the next four years specifically for water quality. The federal government has also committed funding, but it remains to be seen how much will be directed specifically to water quality concerns. </p>
<p>The report recommends the money should be directed at understanding and beginning to reverse the impact of sediment and nutrient from rivers flowing into the Great Barrier Reef. </p>
<p>By any degree, the taskforce has done well in terms of bringing together a wide range of opinions and perspectives on a potentially contentious issue — views that are unified around the report’s conclusions. </p>
<p>While the report is not about climate change, climate change is critically important to whether the plan will ultimately succeed or fail. Stronger storms, floods, droughts and underwater heatwaves will all make the task of solving the water quality issue even harder.</p>
<p>So there is an assumption that we will beat the climate change challenge through mechanisms such as the international commitments that Australia agreed to under the <a href="https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2015/cop21/eng/l09.pdf">Paris Agreement</a> in December 2015. </p>
<h2>Starting to reverse the damage</h2>
<p>The Great Barrier Reef and its river catchment are bigger than Italy. With problems going back over 100 years, A$90 million is not going to fix all of the problems, but it can start to significantly reverse the damage.</p>
<p>The Queensland government has committed to ambitious water quality targets adopted in the <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/marine/gbr/long-term-sustainability-plan">Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan</a> — for instance, reducing nitrogen runoff by 80% and sediment by 50% across the key catchments of the Wet Tropics and the Burdekin by 2025. As many have noted, these targets will not be achieved under current practice — even if farmers fully adopt best management practices — and the taskforce report agrees. </p>
<p>Angry voices on soapboxes won’t solve this monumental challenge. That will only come about through inclusive and considered processes — it needs a long-term, sustained and coordinated reef-wide strategy. </p>
<p>We must redefine how we manage — and therefore resource — the Great Barrier Reef system, from the ecosystems that thrive in it to the industries and communities that depend on it for the long term. That strategy should coordinate all existing but separate approaches. </p>
<h2>We’ve been here before</h2>
<p>Fortunately — or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it — Australia has been here before with a complex environmental problem that crosses multiple borders. Particularly in the past 15 years, state and federal governments have attempted to undo a century of mismanagement in the <a href="http://www.mdba.gov.au/publications/mdba-reports/murray%E2%80%93darling-basin-water-reforms-framework-evaluating-progress">Murray-Darling Basin</a>.</p>
<p>Although water quantity is the issue in the basin, as opposed to water quality in the Great Barrier Reef, there are similarities. </p>
<p>The two systems are a similar size — the Murray-Darling Basin covers a million square kilometres, and the Great Barrier Reef half-a-million sq km. In both cases, productive industries such as farming cotton or cane closely interact with valuable ecological systems. Overall, they produce billions of dollars of annual revenue from food production, tourism and other industries. </p>
<p>In each case, international pressure (the <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/water/wetlands/ramsar">RAMSAR</a> convention on wetlands in the Murray-Darling, <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/154">UNESCO</a> for the reef) have played very significant roles in encouraging responsible actions from Australia.</p>
<p>Billions of dollars have been spent on the Murray-Darling — and similar investment is probably required for the Great Barrier Reef catchments. While action within the Murray-Darling system hasn’t been (and still isn’t) perfect, we can learn much from the experience. </p>
<h2>Where to from here?</h2>
<p>In our opinion, and drawing on the experiences in the Murray-Darling, the following principles should be core to any strategy for the reef.</p>
<p>First, recognise that a significant shift is required in how we manage and develop land next to the Great Barrier Reef. While this is politically, economically and socially difficult, the fallout will be greater if we don’t get this right. </p>
<p>Farmers must be enabled and supported to care for the land to deliver both economic outcomes and ecosystem services. They are the stewards of our natural capital as well as key contributors to our economy. </p>
<p>We’ll also need to take a small proportion of land out of production to form riparian strips, and incentives will need to be established to ensure the careful use of fertiliser, better use of cover crops, and the like. Again, these initiatives are occurring now, but we need to adopt a whole-of-system approach that corrals these actions into a coherent strategy. </p>
<p>The efficiencies introduced through the <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/water/australian-government-water-leadership/nwi">National Water Initiative</a> and later the <a href="https://theconversation.com/finally-murray-darling-basin-plan-signed-into-law-10939">Murray-Darling Basin Plan</a> did achieve such a shift there. </p>
<p>Second, acknowledge that nothing we do to address water quality issues makes sense if we don’t also address climate change as a major source of the problem. Any strategy to protect the reef has to include meaningful action to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and vice versa. Solving the climate issue only to let the reef down on the water quality issue doesn’t make any sense either.</p>
<p>Third, full and enduring cooperation and coordination between the Commonwealth and Queensland governments are essential. Anything else risks duplication, redundancy, confusion and, more than likely, a monumental waste of money. </p>
<p>The political heat in the lead-up to the <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/water/australian-government-water-leadership/nwi">National Water Initiative</a>, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/finally-murray-darling-basin-plan-signed-into-law-10939">Murray-Darling Basin Plan</a> and the <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/water/australian-government-water-leadership/water-legislation/key-features-water-act-2007">2007 Water Act</a> served only to diminish the opportunities for a lasting and meaningful solution to excessive water allocation in the basin.</p>
<p>Fourth, in support of the cooperative federalist approach, a statutory authority that oversees the implementation of the strategy — with appropriate financial incentives and regulatory powers — will be necessary. This authority would operate across Queensland river catchment and estuarine regions. We would argue that this should be a separate entity to GBRMPA, which already has its hands full managing the reef.</p>
<p>One of the successes from efforts in water reform was the National Water Commission, which played a crucial role in the implementation of the National Water Initiative. Its subsequent demise was regrettable. </p>
<p>Fifth, well-designed, market-based mechanisms work. Just as some efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are cheaper than others, we need to know which measures that reduce water quality are most cost-effective. If designed correctly, these mechanisms have the potential to drive innovation and game-changing ideas. </p>
<p>A water quality “trading scheme” should be explored. If done properly, such a market could prove to be enormously beneficial to farmers as well as the reef. </p>
<p>Finally, make sure the strategy has the resources to get the job done. While throwing money at the problem won’t solve it on its own (the billions spent in the Murray-Darling Basin proved that), the challenge will demand significant resources over the coming decade. </p>
<p>Such finance need not come from governments alone. If the principles above are implemented in a way that provides transparency and certainty to the market, then the private sector may be able to contribute.</p>
<p>These are the first steps of a journey that is critical for the long-term survival of the Great Barrier Reef. As the taskforce stresses, this is a journey that will require clever policy that adapts to a dynamic world. </p>
<p>The reforms to address the problems of the Murray-Darling Basin were triggered by the Millennium Drought. The recent coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef should inspire the same urgency. </p>
<p>And, if so, let’s hope that we are now truly on a pathway to a future for the Great Barrier Reef where its people, industries and ecosystems thrive into the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/59827/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karen Hussey receives funding from the Commonwealth Government and the Australian Research Council. She is affiliated with WWF Australia and the TJ Ryan Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Professor Hoegh-Guldberg undertakes research on coral reef ecosystems and their response to rapid environmental change, which is supported primarily by the Australian Research Council (Canberra), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Washington, D.C.), Catlin Group (London), and Great Barrier Reef Foundation (Brisbane). He is a member of the Great Barrier Reef Water Science Taskforce. He did not receive salary for writing this article.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robin Smale is director of Vivid Economics. Vivid Economics is contracted to the Commonwealth Department of the Environment examining financing of conservation projects on the Great Barrier Reef, and has had previous contracts with Commonwealth Government and Government of New South Wales.</span></em></p>
Efforts to combat water pollution on the Great Barrier Reef aren’t working, according to a new government report.
Karen Hussey, Deputy Director, Global Change Institute, The University of Queensland
Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Director, Global Change Institute, The University of Queensland
Robin Smale, Visiting fellow, Global Change Institute, The University of Queensland
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/59381
2016-05-18T19:46:03Z
2016-05-18T19:46:03Z
This election is our last chance to save the Great Barrier Reef
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122965/original/image-20160518-9491-136k2ug.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Great Barrier Reef's health has declined in recent years</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reef image from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Great Barrier Reef has been in the spotlight thanks to <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/coral-bleaching">severe coral bleaching</a> since March, leaving only 7% of the reef untouched. The bleaching, driven by record-breaking sea temperatures, has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/great-barrier-reef-bleaching-would-be-almost-impossible-without-climate-change-58408">linked to human-caused climate change</a>. </p>
<p>Apart from bleaching, the reef is in serious trouble thanks to <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/great-barrier-reef-threats-series">a variety of threats</a>. <a href="https://research.jcu.edu.au/tropwater/resources/Brodie%20and%20Waterhouse%202012%20a%20critical%20review.pdf">Many species and ecosystems</a> of the Great Barrier Reef are in <a href="http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/cdn/2014/GBRMPA-Outlook-Report-2014/">serious decline</a>. </p>
<p>It is now overwhelmingly clear that we need to fix these problems to give the reef the best chance in a warming world. In fact, the upcoming election is arguably our last chance to put in place a plan that will save the reef. </p>
<p>In a <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272771416301469">recent paper</a>, we estimate that we need to spend A$10 billion over the next ten years - about five times as much as <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/marine/gbr/protecting-the-reef">current state and federal governments are spending</a> – to fix up reef water quality before climate change impacts overwhelm it. </p>
<h2>Stop water pollution</h2>
<p>Poor water quality is one of the major threats to the Great Barrier Reef. Sediment and nutrients (such as nitrogen) washed by rivers onto the reef cause waters to become turbid, <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272771416300634">shutting out light for corals and seagrass</a>. It can also encourage algal growth and outbreaks of coral-eating <a href="https://theconversation.com/great-barrier-reef-dying-beneath-its-crown-of-thorns-6383">crown-of-thorns starfish</a>. </p>
<p>The Queensland and Australian governments have made <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/d98b3e53-146b-4b9c-a84a-2a22454b9a83/files/reef-2050-long-term-sustainability-plan.pdf">plans with targets to improve water quality</a>, but the main plan - the <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/marine/gbr/publications/reef-2050-long-term-sustainability-plan">Reef 2050 Long Term Sustainability Plan</a> – is completely inadequate according to the <a href="https://www.science.org.au/supporting-science/science-policy/position-statements/reef-2050-long-term">Australian Academy of Science</a>. Its targets are <a href="https://theconversation.com/current-management-is-not-enough-to-halt-pollution-on-the-great-barrier-reef-49055">unlikely to be met</a>. And <a href="https://theconversation.com/great-barrier-reef-pollution-controls-are-not-enough-heres-what-we-can-do-52861">others</a> have suggested <a href="https://theconversation.com/current-management-is-not-enough-to-halt-pollution-on-the-great-barrier-reef-49055">ways to improve water quality</a> on the Great Barrier Reef. </p>
<p>To provide resilience for the Great Barrier Reef against the current and rapidly increasing climate impacts, water quality management needs to be greatly improved by 2025 to meet the targets and <a href="http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/4526/GBRMPA_WQualityGuidelinesGBRMP_RevEdition_2010.pdf">guidelines</a>. 2025 is important as it’s likely that climate change effects will be overwhelming after that date. It is also the target date for the Reef 2050 Long Term Sustainability Plan. </p>
<h2>What needs to be done</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122656/original/image-20160516-11090-19sohox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122656/original/image-20160516-11090-19sohox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122656/original/image-20160516-11090-19sohox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122656/original/image-20160516-11090-19sohox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122656/original/image-20160516-11090-19sohox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122656/original/image-20160516-11090-19sohox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122656/original/image-20160516-11090-19sohox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122656/original/image-20160516-11090-19sohox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Proposed boundaries of the Greater GBR. The area inside the red line is the GBR World Heritage Area and the shaded area is the proposed Greater GBR management area, including the GBR catchment, the GBRWHA, Torres Strait and Hervey Bay.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">J Waterhouse, TropWATER. Data for the GBR provided by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In our <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272771416301469">recent article</a>, we analysed what we need to do to respond to the current crisis, especially for water quality.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Refocus management to the “Greater Great Barrier Reef (GBR)” – that is, include management of Torres Strait, Hervey Bay and river catchments that run into the reef as priorities along with the world heritage area. This area is shown in figure above.</p></li>
<li><p>Prioritise management for ecosystems in relatively good condition, such Torres Strait, northern Cape York and Hervey Bay which have the highest current integrity. These areas should still be prioritised despite the recent severe bleaching in the northern Great Barrier Reef.</p></li>
<li><p>Investigate methods of cross-boundary management to achieve simultaneous cost-effective terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystem protection in the Greater GBR.</p></li>
<li><p>Develop a detailed, comprehensive, costed water quality management plan for the Greater GBR. In the period 2009-16, more than A$500 million was spent on water quality management (with some success) without a robust comprehensive plan to ensure the most effective use of the funding.</p></li>
<li><p>Use existing federal legislation (the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act) to regulate catchment activities that lead to damage to the Greater GBR, together with the relevant Queensland legislation. These rules were established long ago and are immediately available to tackle terrestrial pollutant discharge.</p></li>
<li><p>Fund catchment and coastal management to the required level to largely solve the pollution issues for the Greater GBR by 2025, to provide resilience for the system in the face of accelerating climate change impacts. The funding required is large – of the order of A$1 billion per year over the next ten years but small by comparison to the worth of the Great Barrier Reef – estimated to be of the order of <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212041614001077">A$20 billion per year</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>Continue enforcement of the <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982215001372">zoning plan</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>Show commitment to protecting the Greater GBR through greenhouse gas emissions control, of a scale to be relevant to protecting the reef (for example those proposed by the <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/209541964/Targets-and-Progress-Review-Final-Report-Recommendations">Climate Change Authority</a>), by 2025.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Unless immediate action is taken to improve water quality, the onset of accelerating climate change impacts mean there is little chance the current decline in reef health can be prevented.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/59381/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jon Brodie has received funding over the last two years from the Australian Government, the Queensland Government, Natural Resource Management groups, WWF, UNEP, Melbourne Water, NSW EPA. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Pearson has in the past received funding from the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council and the Marine and Tropical Science Research Facility. He is a member of ACF.</span></em></p>
The Great Barrier Reef is in trouble, and the upcoming election is our last chance to lock in plans to save it.
Jon Brodie, Chief Research Scientist, Centre for Tropical Water & Aquatic Ecosystem Research (TropWATER), James Cook University
Richard Pearson, Emeritus Professor, College of Marine & Environmental Sciences, James Cook University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/58283
2016-04-26T20:12:53Z
2016-04-26T20:12:53Z
Great Barrier Reef bleaching stats are bad enough without media misreporting
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120138/original/image-20160426-1349-72u5a0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Great Barrier Reef's northern sections have been hit hardest by bleaching.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Kerry/ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/coral-bleaching-taskforce-more-than-1-000-km-of-the-great-barrier-reef-has-bleached-57282">widespread bleaching event</a> occurring across the Great Barrier Reef is unprecedented in scale and severity. It has rightly gained global media attention. Sadly, however, some of the headlines it has generated are factually incorrect or misleading: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Half of Great Barrier Reef “dead or dying” (<a href="http://www.itv.com/news/2016-04-20/half-of-great-barrier-reef-dead-or-dying/">ITV News</a>)</p>
<p>Coral are bleaching along the entire Great Barrier Reef (<a href="http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/04/coral-are-bleaching-along-the-entire-great-barrier-reef/">Ars Technica</a>)</p>
<p>Climate change has destroyed 93% of the Great Barrier Reef (<a href="http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1113413716/great-barrier-reef-climate-change-042016/">RedOrbit</a>)</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>The aerial surveys</h2>
<p>Most of the recent international coverage was based on a <a href="http://www.coralcoe.org.au/media-releases/only-7-of-the-great-barrier-reef-has-avoided-coral-bleaching">press release</a> from the ARC Centre for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University. It explained how comprehensive aerial surveys were undertaken on “911 individual reefs … along the full 2,300 km length of the Great Barrier Reef. Of all the reefs we surveyed, only 7% (68 reefs) have escaped bleaching entirely” </p>
<p>The ARC survey assessed nearly one-third of all of the coral reefs on the Great Barrier Reef – a huge sample, analogous to polling 8 million Australians to find out their voting intentions. Underwater teams of scientific divers have confirmed the accuracy of these aerial surveys and are continuing to measure the ongoing impact of the bleaching.</p>
<p>The map below highlights the differences in bleaching patterns between the reef’s northern and southern sections. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120127/original/image-20160426-1344-1pyvc37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120127/original/image-20160426-1344-1pyvc37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120127/original/image-20160426-1344-1pyvc37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=791&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120127/original/image-20160426-1344-1pyvc37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=791&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120127/original/image-20160426-1344-1pyvc37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=791&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120127/original/image-20160426-1344-1pyvc37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=994&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120127/original/image-20160426-1344-1pyvc37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=994&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120127/original/image-20160426-1344-1pyvc37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=994&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Results of aerial surveys along the length of the Great Barrier Reef.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is important to recognise that if bleaching was observed on a reef, this does not mean a particular reef has entirely bleached. Indeed, 45% of the reefs assessed had 30% or less bleaching. In the southern section, only 1% of reefs were categorised as “severely bleached”. </p>
<p>Make no mistake: what is happening is very serious. But to state that “<a href="http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1113413716/great-barrier-reef-climate-change-042016/">climate change has destroyed 93% of the Great Barrier Reef</a>” is a misrepresentation of the situation. </p>
<p>Perhaps the more accurate way to frame the results (and indeed the wording used in the <a href="http://www.coralcoe.org.au/media-releases/only-7-of-the-great-barrier-reef-has-avoided-coral-bleaching">media release</a>) is to say that only 7% of the coral reefs across the Great Barrier Reef have completely avoided bleaching. The situation is bad enough even when sticking to the facts.</p>
<p>There is clear evidence of the extent and severity of the bleaching, which supports the conclusion that the reef is experiencing the worst bleaching event ever seen. The northern half has been hit the hardest, with about 80% categorised as severely bleached.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120140/original/image-20160426-1355-1w99tg7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120140/original/image-20160426-1355-1w99tg7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120140/original/image-20160426-1355-1w99tg7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120140/original/image-20160426-1355-1w99tg7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120140/original/image-20160426-1355-1w99tg7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120140/original/image-20160426-1355-1w99tg7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120140/original/image-20160426-1355-1w99tg7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120140/original/image-20160426-1355-1w99tg7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The exact extent of bleaching varies from reef to reef.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Chris Jones</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The context</h2>
<p>Part of the problem is that while many people around the world have heard of the Great Barrier Reef, few know enough about it to put such confronting headlines into context. For instance, it is important to understand the extent to which coral reefs form part of the much larger <a href="http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/4457/GBR-general-reference-A3-March-2012.PDF">World Heritage Area</a>. </p>
<p>Most of the articles accompanying the above headlines don’t clarify the following key points:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the World Heritage Area is the size of Italy or Malaysia, but only around 10% of this area is comprised of coral reefs.</p></li>
<li><p>more than 3,000 separate coral reefs collectively comprise the Great Barrier Reef, and these extend north into the Torres Strait, outside the boundaries of both the <a href="http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/zoning-permits-and-plans/zoning/zoning-maps">GBR Marine Park</a> and the World Heritage Area.</p></li>
<li><p>the surveys show a mixed picture of very severe, moderate and little bleaching that changes dramatically from north to south along the 2,300 km length of the reef. </p></li>
<li><p>a <a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/03/9f/d0/039fd0a0d3b28fbccb70d381274f81fb.jpg">bleached coral is not necessarily a dead coral</a>, and the true extent of dead coral across the Great Barrier Reef will only become clear over the coming months.</p></li>
<li><p>while coral reefs are a key component of the ecosystem, they are <a href="http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/managing-the-reef/threats-to-the-reef/climate-change/what-does-this-mean-for-habitats">not the only habitats</a> suffering from the impacts of climate change.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120134/original/image-20160426-1344-g6a7oi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120134/original/image-20160426-1344-g6a7oi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120134/original/image-20160426-1344-g6a7oi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120134/original/image-20160426-1344-g6a7oi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120134/original/image-20160426-1344-g6a7oi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120134/original/image-20160426-1344-g6a7oi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120134/original/image-20160426-1344-g6a7oi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120134/original/image-20160426-1344-g6a7oi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Anemones have been bleaching too.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Justin Marshall/CoralWatch</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Tourism in damage control</h2>
<p>At the other end of the scale, some tourism operators and politicians have questioned the impacts of the bleaching, claiming that the effects are overstated.</p>
<p>This has given rise to a social media campaign involving pictures of healthy corals posted under the #GBRtoday hashtag, and has generated headlines such as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Tourism industry pushes back against bleaching claims (<a href="http://www.4ca.com.au/news/local-news/51369-tourism-industry-pushes-back-against-bleaching-claims">Radio 4CA</a>)</p>
<p>Tourism officials not panicking about coral bleaching on Far North Queensland reefs (<a href="http://www.cairnspost.com.au/business/tourism-officials-not-panicking-about-coral-bleaching-on-far-northern-reefs/news-story/8e9b010596329790ccc793ffec5fec12">Cairns Post</a>)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>An <a href="http://rrrc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Coral-Bleaching-Assessment-on-Key-Tourism-Sites-between-Lizard-Island-and-Cairns-Z.pdf">independent survey</a> by tour operators using federal funding was co-ordinated by the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre (RRRC) in Cairns. This involved 402 surveys on reefs between Cairns and the northern Ribbon Reefs. It found 31% of their survey sites had not bleached, with the remaining 69% of the surveys showing varying levels of bleaching. </p>
<p>At 16 of the RRRC survey sites, 85% or more of the surveyed area was bleached to varying extents, ranging from moderate bleaching to coral death (bleaching levels 2-4, see page 8 of the <a href="http://rrrc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Coral-Bleaching-Assessment-on-Key-Tourism-Sites-between-Lizard-Island-and-Cairns-Z.pdf">report</a> for more details). </p>
<p>At several of the Ribbon Reefs, between 30-40% of the corals at the surveyed site were dead. These results are not dissimilar to those of the ARC scientists.</p>
<h2>The real picture</h2>
<p>In summary, the level of bleaching of the coral reefs is catastrophic in the northern sector. Along the length of the Great Barrier Reef from north to south, there is a gradient of decreasing severity, from very severe to no sign of bleaching.</p>
<p>The magnitude of this bleaching, the worst ever to hit the reef, cannot be overstated. This is a massive blow to the UNESCO World Heritage site considered to be the most biodiverse on the planet. </p>
<p>Experts are predicting high levels of coral death across some parts of the Great Barrier Reef. Close to <a href="http://www.coralcoe.org.au/media-releases/only-7-of-the-great-barrier-reef-has-avoided-coral-bleaching">50% mortality</a> of bleached corals has already been measured north of Port Douglas. However, the wider impacts on the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem, and on the industries and communities that depend on a healthy reef, will not be fully apparent for months.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58283/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jon C. Day does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The statistic that bleaching has been seen in 93% of surveyed areas of the Great Barrier Reef has sparked worldwide coverage - not all of it accurate.
Jon C. Day, PhD candidate, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/58204
2016-04-24T10:41:31Z
2016-04-24T10:41:31Z
David Attenborough says the Great Barrier Reef is in ‘grave danger’ – it’s time to step up
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119918/original/image-20160423-5457-16b5rkq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sir David on the Great Barrier Reef. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Attenborough © Serengeti Entertainment</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over three weeks, Australians have been taken on an incredible journey through the biology, beauty and wonder of the <a href="http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/david-attenboroughs-great-barrier-reef/ZW0220A001S00">Great Barrier Reef</a>, guided by Sir David Attenborough. </p>
<p>As individuals who have had the privilege of working on the Reef for much of our lives, the wonderful storytelling, exquisite photography and stunning production of the Great Barrier Reef with David Attenborough has been inspiring. It’s a great reminder of how lucky we are to have this wonder of nature right on our doorstep.</p>
<p>Particularly special has been the wonderful black-and-white footage of Sir David’s first visit to the Reef in 1957, a trip down memory lane. His attachment and fascination with the Reef are hard to dismiss. </p>
<p>However, as the curtain closes on this wonderful series, Sir David concludes that the Reef that he visited nearly 60 years ago is very different from today. </p>
<p>Research backs up this personal experience. The Australian Institute of Marine Science has shown that the Great Barrier Reef has <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/109/44/17995.short">lost around 50% of its coral cover between 1985 and 2012</a>. </p>
<h2>A reef in peril</h2>
<blockquote>
<p>The Great Barrier Reef is in grave danger. The twin perils brought by climate change – an increase in the temperature of the ocean and in its acidity – threaten its very existence. – Sir David Attenborough</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As this television series has aired in Australia, an underwater heatwave has caused coral bleaching on <a href="http://www.coralcoe.org.au/media-releases/only-7-of-the-great-barrier-reef-has-avoided-coral-bleaching">93% of the reefs that make up the Great Barrier Reef</a>. Up to 50% of corals in the worst-affected regions may die as a result of this bleaching. </p>
<p>We should not be too surprised. <a href="http://www.publish.csiro.au/?paper=MF99078">Reef scientists</a> have been warning about this for decades. In 1998, the warmest year on record at the time, the world lost around 16% of its coral reefs in the first global-scale mass coral bleaching event.</p>
<p>Before the current bleaching, the reef bleached severely in 1998 and 2002, with a substantial bleaching event in 2006 around the Keppel Islands. Outside these events, there has been moderate mass bleaching on the reef since the early 1980s (particularly 1983 and 1987), although never to the extent and intensity that we are witnessing today.</p>
<h2>Rising sea temperatures</h2>
<p>The current bleaching event has drawn widespread media coverage. One of the arguments we have seen raised is that coral bleaching is natural – and that the reef will bounce back as it always has, or even <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/climate-change-adaptation-designer-reefs-1.15073">adapt to warming seas</a>.</p>
<p>It is true that certain coral species, and even certain individual colonies within the same species, do perform <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1461-0248.2001.00203.x/full">better than others</a> when stressed by warmer-than-normal sea temperatures. However, the extent of these differences is only 1-2°C. Given that even moderate climate change projections involve temperatures 2-3°C higher than today, these differences offer little comfort for reefs like the Great Barrier Reef in a warmer world. </p>
<p>The observation that corals grow in warm areas of the globe is a demonstration that corals can and do adapt to local temperatures. However, the time frames involved are hundreds of years, not a single decade. Current rates of warming are much faster than anything for tens of millions of years, which makes the prospect of evolution keeping pace with a changing ocean even more improbable. </p>
<p>Mass bleaching is a new phenomenon that was <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=5927692&fileId=S0376892900012248">first reported in the early 1980s</a>. Before this, there are no reports of corals bleaching <em>en masse</em> across any coral reef or ocean region. </p>
<p>Experts are in agreement that mass coral bleaching and death on the Great Barrier Reef is driven by climate change resulting from human activities (mainly burning fossil fuels). This is the conclusion at the heart of the latest <a href="https://ipcc-wg2.gov/publications/ocean/">consensus of the United Nations scientific report</a>. </p>
<p>Rising sea temperatures coupled with strong El Niños are unfortunately pushing corals to their thermal tolerance limits and beyond. It only takes a temperature <a href="http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/MF99078">increase of 1-2°C to disrupt</a> the special relationship between corals and tiny marine algae that live inside their tissue, resulting in bleached corals. </p>
<p>In fact, as CO₂ concentrations rise, sea temperatures will continue to climb – increasing the likelihood that mass coral bleaching events will become more frequent and more destructive. <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/352/6283/338.abstract">Recent research</a> has shown that near-future increases in local temperature of as little as 0.5°C may lead to significant degradation of the Great Barrier Reef. </p>
<p>Rising temperatures are not the only climate threat. Cyclones are predicted to become <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v436/n7051/abs/nature03906.html">stronger</a> (if less frequent) in a warmer world. Since 2005 there have been eight cyclones on the reef of category 3 or above – more than previous decades. We would argue this is evidence that these predictions are already coming true and form part of our current reality. </p>
<p>Heat stress is not just affecting corals on the Great Barrier Reef either. We are seeing reports of bleaching across all of Australia’s coral real estate (Coral Sea, Torres Strait, Kimberley, North West Shelf), the South Pacific and the central and western Indian Ocean. </p>
<p>It is likely only a matter of time before we start to see reports of bleaching from <a href="https://theconversation.com/coral-bleaching-comes-to-the-great-barrier-reef-as-record-breaking-global-temperatures-continue-56570">other coral reefs around the world</a>. We are indeed dealing with changing times and a global issue.</p>
<h2>It’s not too late to act</h2>
<p>It’s not too late to act – but we will need very deep and significant action to occur within three to five years or face a collapse of ecosystems like the Great Barrier Reef.</p>
<p>Climate change is just one of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/great-barrier-reef-threats-series">threats facing the Great Barrier Reef</a>. Fortunately, it is not too late to give the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZefWhGmI_KU&list=PLrPCCOilfKQFYRbGGmGnu82CREchiZSyC&index=13">reef a fighting chance</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZefWhGmI_KU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Ove Hoegh-Guldberg on the future of the reef.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, it does require strong, immediate and decisive action from our political leaders. </p>
<p>In the lead-up to the federal election, we believe that four major steps are required by our leaders to ensure a future for the Reef:</p>
<ol>
<li><p><strong>Mitigate:</strong> we need to – as per the Paris Agreement – keep average global surface temperature increases to below 2.0°C, and hopefully 1.5°C in the long term. This means we must adopt a pathway that will bring our greenhouse gas emissions to zero over the next few decades. Our leaders must live up to the global agreement that they committed to in <a href="https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2015/cop21/eng/l09r01.pdf">Paris at COP21</a>.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Invest:</strong> we need to ultimately close our coal mines and stop searching for more fossil fuels. The experts tell us that we must leave <a href="https://theconversation.com/unburnable-carbon-why-we-need-to-leave-fossil-fuels-in-the-ground-40467">80% of known fossil fuels in the ground</a>. Let’s invest in coral, renewables and the planet, and not in coal, emissions and ecosystem collapse. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Strengthen:</strong> we need an urgent and concerted effort to reduce other non-climate change threats to build the resilience of the reef so it can better withstand the impacts of climate change over the coming years. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Integrate:</strong> Australian and Queensland governments have begun a process to address declining reef health through the <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/consultations/8b8f5023-3cfb-4310-bc51-1136aa5d875a/files/reef-2050-long-term-sustainaiblity-plan.pdf">Reef 2050 Long-term Sustainability Plan</a>. This plan has a strong focus on coastal water quality. The 2050 Reef Plan and its resourcing will need to consider climate change – especially given that it is likely to make achieving the objectives of the plan even more challenging and impossible (if no action). Otherwise we run the risk of ending up with a great plan for improving water quality by 2050 but no Great Barrier Reef.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>We hope that Sir David Attenborough will help inspire Australians to demand action from their political leaders to ensure that this natural wonder of the world continues to inspire, employ, educate and generate income for generations to come.</p>
<p>It seems fitting to end with Sir David’s closing words with a call to our political leaders and fellow Australians:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Do we really care so little about the earth upon which we live that we don’t wish to protect one of its greatest wonders from the consequences of our behaviours?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>After all, it is our Great Barrier Reef – let’s keep it great. </p>
<p>Or at least let’s fight to keep it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58204/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Professor Hoegh-Guldberg undertakes research on coral reef ecosystems and their response to rapid environmental change, which is supported primarily by the Australian Research Council (Canberra), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Washington, D.C.), Catlin Group (London), and Great Barrier Reef Foundation (Brisbane). He is married to Dr Sophie Dove but did not receive salary for writing this article.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tyrone Ridgway does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Sir David Attenborough has issued a call the save the Great Barrier Reef.
Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Director, Global Change Institute, The University of Queensland
Tyrone Ridgway, Healthy Oceans Program Manager, Global Change Institute, The University of Queensland
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/55828
2016-04-03T20:11:12Z
2016-04-03T20:11:12Z
Banning fishing has helped parts of the Great Barrier Reef recover from damage
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117044/original/image-20160401-31093-y02ck4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pristine coral on the Great Barrier Reef.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.tethys-images.com">Photo copyright Tom Bridge</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The world’s coral reefs face unprecedented threats. Their survival depends on how well they can cope with a long list of pressures including fishing, storms, coral bleaching, outbreaks of coral predators and reduced water quality. Together, these disturbances have caused the Great Barrier Reef to <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/109/44/17995.short">lose half of its coral cover</a> since 1985.</p>
<p>One often-used way of protecting marine ecosystems is to close parts of the ocean to fishing, in no-take marine reserves. From research, we know that by reducing fishing you end up with <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v520/n7547/full/nature14358.html">more and bigger fish</a> (and other harvested species such as lobsters).</p>
<p>But other benefits of protection might be more surprising. In a <a href="http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/ele.12598">new study</a>, we show that no-take reserves helped the Great Barrier Reef’s corals to resist a range of disturbances, such as bleaching, disease and crown-of-thorns starfish, and to recover more quickly from damage. </p>
<h2>More exposure, but better protection</h2>
<p>Our study used observations between 1993 and 2013 of 34 types of coral and invertebrates and 215 fish species on 46 reefs spread across the Great Barrier Reef. Among the 46 study reefs, 26 were open to fishing and 20 were in no-take marine reserves. </p>
<p>During the study period, several occurrences of coral bleaching, coral disease, storms and outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish were recorded.</p>
<p>The total number of disturbances affecting our study reefs increased in recent years (2010-12), mostly due to severe storms affecting the central and southern sections of the Great Barrier Reef. Among our study reefs, those located inside no-take marine reserves were more exposed to disturbance than those outside no-take marine reserves.</p>
<p>Our study showed that, inside no-take marine reserves, the impact of disturbance was reduced by 38% for fish and by 25% for corals compared with unprotected reefs. This means that no-take marine reserves benefit not only fish but entire reef communities, including corals, and might help to slow down the rapid degradation of coral reefs.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117045/original/image-20160401-28451-1uaq0z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117045/original/image-20160401-28451-1uaq0z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117045/original/image-20160401-28451-1uaq0z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117045/original/image-20160401-28451-1uaq0z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117045/original/image-20160401-28451-1uaq0z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117045/original/image-20160401-28451-1uaq0z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117045/original/image-20160401-28451-1uaq0z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117045/original/image-20160401-28451-1uaq0z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Damaged coral reef around Lizard Island a few days after cyclone Ita.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Tom Bridge, www.tethys-images.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Faster recovery</h2>
<p>In addition to greater resistance, reef organisms recovered more quickly from disturbance inside no-take marine reserves. After each disturbance, we measured the time that both coral and fish communities took to return to their pre-disturbance state. </p>
<p>We found coral communities took the longest to recover after crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks. Outside no-take marine reserves, it took on average nine years for these communities to recover. It took just over six years inside no-take marine reserves. </p>
<p>Although there is more work to be done, one reason that reefs inside no-take zones are able to cope better with disturbances is that they preserve and promote a wider range of important ecological functions. Where fishing reduces the numbers of some species outside protected areas, some of these functions could be lost.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117043/original/image-20160401-28436-17xwpbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117043/original/image-20160401-28436-17xwpbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117043/original/image-20160401-28436-17xwpbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117043/original/image-20160401-28436-17xwpbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117043/original/image-20160401-28436-17xwpbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117043/original/image-20160401-28436-17xwpbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117043/original/image-20160401-28436-17xwpbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117043/original/image-20160401-28436-17xwpbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Coral reef showing signs of recovery.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo copyright Tom Bridge/www.tethys-images.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Knowledge for conservation</h2>
<p>Marine reserves (including no-take zones) currently cover 3.4% of the world’s ocean, which is still well below the 10% target for 2020 recommended by the <a href="https://www.cbd.int/">Convention on Biological Diversity</a>. The slow progress towards this target is partly due to the perceived high costs of protection compared to true ecological benefits, which can be difficult to gauge. While some surprising benefits are beginning to be revealed in studies like ours, such benefits remain little understood. </p>
<p>Our results help to fill that gap by showing that no-take marine reserves can boost both the resistance and recovery of reef communities following disturbance. In ecology, resistance plus recovery equals resilience. </p>
<p>Our work suggests that the net benefit of no-take marine reserves is much greater than previously thought. No-take marine reserves host not only more and bigger fishes, but more resilient communities that might decline at slower rates.</p>
<p>These results reinforce the idea that no-take marine reserves should be widely implemented and supported as a means of maintaining the integrity of coral reefs globally. </p>
<p>Our conclusions also demonstrate that we need long-term monitoring programs which provide a unique opportunity to assess the sustained benefits of protection.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55828/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Camille Mellin was funded by an Australian Research Council grant (DE140100701).
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aaron MacNeil receives funding from the Australian government. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julian Caley receives funding from the Australian Department of the Environment and the Australian Institute of Marine Science</span></em></p>
Banning fishing helps fish, but it also helps reef recover from cyclones, disease, and coral bleaching.
Camille Mellin, Research Scientist, Australian Institute of Marine Science
Aaron MacNeil, Senior Research Scientist, Australian Institute of Marine Science
Julian Caley, Senior Principal Research Scientist, Australian Institute of Marine Science
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/52861
2016-04-03T02:27:21Z
2016-04-03T02:27:21Z
Great Barrier Reef pollution controls are not enough: here’s what we can do
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116856/original/image-20160331-28451-1skq4u2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=687%2C0%2C3896%2C3524&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish, which eat coral, have been linked to poor water quality</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Starfish image from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Current efforts to protect the Great Barrier Reef from land-based pollution are unlikely to be enough, according to our <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.13262/full">scientific review published in Global Change Biology</a>.</p>
<p>Poor water quality – along with climate change, fishing, coastal development – is one of the <a href="http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/managing-the-reef/great-barrier-reef-outlook-report">major threats to the reef</a>. Due to the cumulative impacts of these threats, the <a href="http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/managing-the-reef/great-barrier-reef-outlook-report">condition of the Great Barrier Reef has deteriorated over past decades</a>. </p>
<p>This is despite its protection under federal law, its global recognition as a <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/154">World Heritage site</a>, and the ongoing efforts and investment by the Queensland and Australian governments and many other sectors of the community, including landholders. In 2014, the UN threatened to list the reef as “in danger”, but efforts by the Australian and Queensland governments managed to <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-barrier-reef-is-not-listed-as-in-danger-but-the-threats-remain-42548">avoid this</a>. </p>
<p>Poor water quality is driven by material washed off the land. So we looked for examples in Australia and overseas that could help improve the reef’s situation. </p>
<h2>Muddy waters</h2>
<p>The Great Barrier Reef is the <a href="http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/about-the-reef">world’s largest coral reef system</a>, extending more than 2,000 km along the northeast coast of Australia. It includes 20,000 square km of coral reefs, around 43,000 square km of seagrass meadows, and extensive mangrove forests. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/sustainability/publications/economic-contribution-great-barrier-reef-march-2013">reef currently contributes about A$5.6 billion to the Australian economy</a>. This includes tourism (A$5.2 billion), commercial fishing (A$160 million) and recreational use (A$244 million), and supports around 69,000 full-time jobs.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.reefplan.qld.gov.au/about/scientific-consensus-statement/">Poor water quality</a> has come about largely from excess sediment, nitrogen and pesticides flowing from the land into the reef’s lagoon. This has a significant impact on reef health. </p>
<p>Fine sediments from soil erosion reduce availability of light for corals and seagrasses to grow. Nitrogen discharge from fertilised land and from erosion promotes the growth of various types of algae, some of which compete with corals. Other algae are associated with outbreaks of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/crown-of-thorns-is-a-symptom-of-reef-decline-lets-address-the-cause-9932">coral-eating Crown-of-thorns starfish</a>. </p>
<p>Herbicides can reduce the productivity of seagrass, which ultimately affects the dugongs and turtles that feed on seagrass.</p>
<h2>Reducing runoff</h2>
<p>To protect the Great Barrier Reef from land-based pollution, the Queensland and Australian governments jointly released the <a href="http://www.reefplan.qld.gov.au/about/">Reef Water Quality Protection Plan</a> in 2003, with updates since. The 2013 update set water quality targets for reductions in river loads of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (50%), sediment (20%) and pesticides (60%) by 2018.</p>
<p>The plan focuses on voluntary plans for farmers, known as best practice management. After more than ten years of dedicated effort and substantial investment to improve reef water quality, <a href="http://www.reefplan.qld.gov.au/measuring-success/report-cards/2014/">the 2014 report card shows only modest changes in agricultural management practices</a>. Indeed, while some progress has been made made, previous 2013 targets were not met and current 2018 targets are unlikely to be met.</p>
<p>Recent economic analyses indicate that <a href="http://www.gbr.qld.gov.au/taskforce/interim-report/">progress towards the 2018 targets can be accelerated</a> by, for example, focusing investment in areas that can deliver the greatest improvement in water quality at the least cost.</p>
<p>Even so, <a href="http://www.reefplan.qld.gov.au/measuring-success/paddock-to-reef/catchment-loads/">recent studies</a> show that even if all farmers adopted best practice under current land uses, the 2018 sediment and nitrogen targets are still unlikely to be met.</p>
<p>We need to look at other options to improve water quality and protect the Great Barrier Reef. This has become even more critical in the face of more stringent water quality targets stated in the <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/marine/gbr/long-term-sustainability-plan">Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan</a>. This plan, released by the Queensland and Australian governments in 2015, was part of a response to the UN’s request to show how Australia would protect the reef over coming decades.</p>
<h2>Looking overseas for solutions</h2>
<p>The situation in the Great Barrier Reef is not unique and there are <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X14003646">international examples of how to reduce sediment and nitrogen runoff</a>. These case studies show measurable reductions in sediment and nutrient levels at river mouths, and declines in nutrient concentrations and amounts of algae in the marine environment. </p>
<p>These approaches centre around two mechanisms: first, identifying the management practices and/or land uses that have low pollutant runoff; and second, establishing effective incentives and regulation for their adoption. They also need long-term political commitment. </p>
<p>In the case of the Great Barrier Reef, several studies have emphasised <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/marine/gbr/publications/independent-review">the lack of effective law and regulation of agricultural land uses and management</a>. Effective regulation has the potential to provide the stick that will support other voluntary and incentive-based approaches.</p>
<p>More broadly, our review identifies the opportunity to more completely harmonise federal and Queensland <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/marine/gbr/long-term-sustainability-plan">policies, regulations and laws that affect the reef’s water quality</a>, and to better align land-based pollution and water quality initiatives.</p>
<p>Experience both globally and in the Great Barrier Reef suggests that even with continued improvements to best practice farming systems, some land use will need to change to protect the reef’s ecosystems. This could include realising the value of other products, such as carbon derived from current agricultural lands, or replacing crops that need large amounts of fertiliser such as sugarcane with other crops that need less, such as grains and cereals. </p>
<p>Finally, retirement of high-risk agricultural land has been used as <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2003WR002753/abstract;jsessionid=D7776D8BA5D21F3FAB4FA76BA07F79F4.f02t02">a tool for reducing land-based pollution</a> and can be a cost-effective measure to improve water quality. </p>
<p>These options presented in our paper are intended to support the ongoing discussion on managing land-based pollution to protect the Great Barrier Reef from poor water quality. </p>
<p>Only by looking at a large range of additional solutions will we be able to achieve the water quality targets stated in the Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/52861/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Frederieke Kroon has received funding from the Australian and Queensland Governments for her research on GBR issues. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Britta Schaffelke receives funding from the Australian Government for her research on GBR issues. </span></em></p>
To fix pollution on the Great Barrier Reef, some farming practices will have to change.
Frederieke Kroon, Principal research scientist, Australian Institute of Marine Science
Britta Schaffelke, Research Program Leader - A Healthy and Sustainable Great Barrier Reef, Australian Institute of Marine Science
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/56664
2016-03-22T01:55:27Z
2016-03-22T01:55:27Z
Great Barrier Reef bleaching event: what happens next?
<p>Monitoring the scale and intensity with which coral bleaching manifests in real time is not a job we wish for, but in reality it provides a powerful tool to enable better management against future events. </p>
<p>It is crucial we learn from El Niño events, which we can treat as natural experiments, to show just how much bleaching occurs as conditions change. It can show us which species are most affected and to what extent the patterns and timing of bleaching reflect the reef’s weakened state from other stresses such as pollution. </p>
<p>To facilitate this, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) has a <a href="http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/4285/gbrmpa_CoralBleachingResPlan2011.pdf">Coral Bleaching Response plan</a> that allows researchers and managers to gauge the impacts. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/coral-bleaching-comes-to-the-great-barrier-reef-as-record-breaking-global-temperatures-continue-56570">widespread bleaching</a> seen in the Great Barrier Reef’s north has now seen the “response level” <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-20/barrier-reef-coral-bleaching-threat-level-increased/7261944">raised to level 3</a>, indicating the most severe situation catered for by the plan.</p>
<h2>Threat and response</h2>
<p>Two key criteria are used to determine the response level: bleaching severity and spatial extent. Being at response level 3 basically means that the coral species that are normally most sensitive to bleaching, such as the colourful branching and table corals, have already moved from paling (and therefore some chance of recovery) to death. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115928/original/image-20160322-32300-ebv5rq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115928/original/image-20160322-32300-ebv5rq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115928/original/image-20160322-32300-ebv5rq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115928/original/image-20160322-32300-ebv5rq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115928/original/image-20160322-32300-ebv5rq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115928/original/image-20160322-32300-ebv5rq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=694&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115928/original/image-20160322-32300-ebv5rq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=694&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115928/original/image-20160322-32300-ebv5rq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=694&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Differing levels of coral bleaching severity in the GBRMPA bleaching response plan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">GBRMPA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Furthermore, at level 3 the more bleaching-tolerant boulder corals have begun to dramatically pale at more than 10 different sites in several parts of the reef. To put it in simple, stark terms, multiple areas of the reef are now dead and dying. </p>
<p>This is not just linked to the current El Niño, which is now showing signs of waning. Response level 3 calls for continued monitoring and stronger management measures such as the tightened pollution caps discussed by federal environment minister Greg Hunt in the wake of the bleaching seen over the past few days. </p>
<p>This process will last for months beyond the current bleaching outbreak, as researchers monitor the reef for signs of post-heat disease outbreaks among immune-compromised corals. They will also check for any apparent signs of potential recovery.</p>
<p>Our ability to have enough “eyes on the ground” is critical to be effective in classifying the appropriate response level. Ever-improving remote sensing of sea temperatures over the reef has transformed our ability to assess bleaching risk and mobilise rapidly. </p>
<p>Reef researchers and managers around the world rely on a network of “<a href="http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/vs.php">virtual bleaching stations</a>” operated by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This helps to determine the probability of a bleaching event by detecting where (and by how much) temperatures are warmer than the seasonal average. This can help reef managers to work preemptively to spot areas that are in danger, and showing where and when researchers need to be in the field to monitor the severity and scale of bleaching at first hand.</p>
<h2>Ongoing monitoring</h2>
<p>What management options exist now that the Great Barrier Reef is at response level 3? While we understand that such mass bleaching events are driven by sea temperature anomalies, they are made much worse in places where coral are stressed by the presence of pollution or extra organic matter in the water.</p>
<p>Response level 3 gives a clear impetus to improve water quality immediately and to encourage responsible use of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and its surroundings. But this is exactly the same for response level 2, so in effect all the recent upgrade adds to the picture is a sense of increased urgency. <a href="http://www.greghunt.com.au/Home/LatestNews/tabid/133/ID/3695/Government-to-invest-in-new-research-into-coral-bleaching.aspx">Emergency funding announced by Hunt</a> in response to the move to level 3 will support unprecedented surveying of the reef’s condition over the coming months, to truly understand the scale of impact.</p>
<p>However, intensive and immediate management of local stresses is the bottom line under response level 3. Corals remain severely weakened by heat stress because of their compromised immune systems and depleted energy reserves. Heat stress fuels the activity of disease-causing microbes in the water, so corals that may have survived the heat stress event might later succumb to disease. </p>
<p>A stressful event such as the recent high temperatures can leave corals even more vulnerable to further stresses, even among those corals that have so far appeared healthy and resisted the current round of bleaching. To choose an apt if unfortunate metaphor, the reef is not out of hot water yet.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/56664/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Suggett receives funding from the Australian Research Council and participates in research funded by the Mitsubishi Corporation and Earthwatch Institute (corals and climate change)</span></em></p>
Authorities have moved the Great Barrier Reef onto its highest alert level in response to widespread coral bleaching. Months of monitoring will now be needed to assess the ongoing damage.
David Suggett, Associate Professor in Marine Biology, University of Technology Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/56570
2016-03-21T02:35:13Z
2016-03-21T02:35:13Z
Coral bleaching comes to the Great Barrier Reef as record-breaking global temperatures continue
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115727/original/image-20160321-4411-13a1938.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A bleached Seriatopora coral. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tyrone Ridgway</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As we write, the much-cherished Great Barrier Reef is experiencing the devastating effects of coral bleaching. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority has declared <a href="http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/media-room/latest-news/coral-bleaching/2016/coral-mortality-rises-in-remote-far-north">severe coral bleaching under way on the reefs north of Cooktown</a>. </p>
<p>El Niño and climate change have driven record-breaking temperatures worldwide. 2015 was the hottest year ever, and 2016 has continued the trend. February 2016 was <a href="https://theconversation.com/februarys-global-temperature-spike-is-a-wake-up-call-56341">1.35°C above average temperatures</a> calculated between 1951 and 1980, the hottest month by the biggest margin ever. </p>
<p>Sea temperatures have also been at record-breaking levels. In the oceans, we have known for more than a decade that rapidly warming ocean temperatures present a <a href="https://theconversation.com/coal-and-climate-change-a-death-sentence-for-the-great-barrier-reef-39252">serious threat to coral reefs</a>, the world’s most biologically diverse ecosystems.</p>
<p>The latest changes in average global surface temperature, if they continue, suggest that coral reefs like the Great Barrier Reef may significantly change even sooner than <a href="http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=MF99078.pdf">previously predicted</a>. </p>
<h2>What exactly is coral bleaching?</h2>
<p>The first sign that a coral reef is in trouble from underwater heatwaves is a sudden change in colour, from brown to brilliant white (bleached). It only takes a temperature increase of 1-2°C to cause entire reefs and regions to bleach. </p>
<p>Small changes in sea temperature disrupt the special relationship between corals and tiny marine algae that live inside their tissue. These algae supply 90% of the energy that corals require for growth and reproduction. When corals bleach, they expel the algae.</p>
<p>If conditions stay warm for a long time, corals start to die either directly or indirectly from starvation and disease. Loss of corals is coupled to the loss of fish and other organisms that ultimately determine opportunities for tourism and fisheries for hundreds of millions of people around the world.</p>
<h2>Is coral bleaching new?</h2>
<p>Mass coral bleaching was first reported in the <a href="http://www.globalcoralbleaching.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Infographic2.jpg">early 1980s</a>. Before that, there were no scientific reports of corals bleaching en masse across entire reef systems and regions. </p>
<p>Did scientists accidentally overlook earlier bleaching events? With a rich history of coral reef ecology going back to the 1930s at least, the idea that we could have missed one of the most visual changes to coral reefs seems implausible. It also seems odd that filmmakers such as <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2015/08/19/4296443.htm">Valerie Taylor</a> and <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/jacques-cousteau-9259496">Jacques-Yves Cousteau</a> could have missed filming these spectacular events.</p>
<p>The first global bleaching event was recorded in 1998. In the lead-up to that event, strong El Niño conditions developed on top of already warm ocean waters in the Pacific. During the 1998 event the world <a href="http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=MF99078.pdf">lost 16%</a> of its coral reefs. </p>
<p>Reports of record levels of coral bleaching in the eastern Pacific began to pour in during late 1997. This was followed by bleaching reports in the South Pacific and the Great Barrier Reef in February and March 1998. </p>
<p>A month or so later, coral bleaching was reported across the western Indian Ocean and, as the northern hemisphere summer unrolled, coral reefs in Northeast Asia, the Middle East and Caribbean began to bleach.</p>
<p>A second global event was recorded 12 years later in 2010. The third global event is happening now. The new reports of severe bleaching – and the associated patterns of ocean temperature – are hauntingly <a href="http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=MF99078.pdf">similar to the 1998 event (see Figure 4)</a>. </p>
<p>Our team at the <a href="http://www.gci.uq.edu.au/healthy-oceans">Global Change Institute</a> at the University of Queensland has documented extensive coral bleaching in Hawaii in November 2015, and in Fiji and New Caledonia in February 2016, as part of the <a href="http://catlinseaviewsurvey.com/">XL Catlin Seaview Survey</a>.</p>
<p>On cue, the Great Barrier Reef has undergone serious bleaching – albeit in a different sector to the 1998 event. While we had our suspicions, based on the temperature predictions, that the reef was going to bleach, we were hesitant to say exactly where and precisely when – weather ultimately determines which parts of the reef will bleach.</p>
<p>The bleaching is focused on the pristine reefs north of Cooktown, driven by high water temperatures, which have persisted at <a href="http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/vs/ts_figures/ts_2yr/2015_2016_ts_gbr_far_northern.png">1.0-1.5°C above seasonal averages</a> since mid to late January 2016, and calm and still weather conditions over recent weeks.</p>
<p>We don’t know for sure how the rest of the 2016 bleaching event will unfold. Based on what we have seen so far, our suspicion is that this event will follow similar broad geographical patterns to that seen in 1998, modified by local weather patterns.</p>
<p>It is likely we will start seeing reports of widespread mass coral bleaching and deaths in the western Indian Ocean from countries such as the Maldives, Kenya and the Seychelles, with Southeast Asia and the Coral Triangle centred on Indonesia following soon afterwards. As the northern summer develops, coral bleaching and deaths may be seen in parts of the Middle East, Japan and the Caribbean by July and August. </p>
<h2>Coral bleaching and the Great Barrier Reef</h2>
<p>The Great Barrier Reef is bleaching at the same time of year (within a few weeks) as it did in 1998. Back then, around 50% of its reefs had bleaching.</p>
<p>In 2002 – not a global event – around 60% of its reefs showed bleaching on central and inshore areas, as opposed to the more <a href="http://www.barrierreef.org/sites/default/files/berkelmans-et-al-2004-comparison-of-1998-and-2002.pdf">even distribution observed in 1998</a>. </p>
<p>In both these bleaching events, coral death rates ranged from 5-10%. A localised bleaching event with significant coral deaths (around 30-40%) was recorded in 2006 in the Keppel Islands on the southern end of the reef. Outside these events, isolated bleaching has occurred on the reef since the early 1980s, although the extent has never approached the recent extent and intensity. </p>
<p>In recent years, we have wondered whether the Great Barrier Reef was somewhat immune to large-scale impacts that have occurred elsewhere in the world. For example, while huge impacts were being felt in Southeast Asia and elsewhere, the Great Barrier Reef effectively dodged a bullet during the second global bleaching event in 2010. </p>
<p>It had also been speculated that the northern sector of the reef, with its more pristine coastal forest and river catchments, might be more resilient to the impact of climate change. </p>
<p>This is backed up by the <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/109/44/17995.full.pdf">observation</a> that the abundance of coral has remained stable in the northern sector of the Great Barrier Reef, whereas the central and southern sectors have declined by 50% over the past 27 years.</p>
<p>The speculation is now resolved. It is very clear from events of the last week that even the most pristine coral reefs (such as those in the northern sector of the reef) are as vulnerable as corals anywhere else. </p>
<p>This demonstrates that the failure to act decisively on climate change will negate any attempt to solve the more local problems of pollution and overfishing. The recent coral bleaching events underscore the importance of adopting the pledges made ahead of the 2015 Paris climate conference – and indeed going even deeper. This is a time for action, not business as usual.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/56570/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Professor Hoegh-Guldberg undertakes research on coral reef ecosystems and their response to rapid environmental change, which is supported primarily by the Australian Research Council (Canberra), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Washington, D.C.), Catlin Group (London), and Great Barrier Reef Foundation (Brisbane). He did not receive salary for writing this article.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tyrone Ridgway does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Right on cue, coral bleaching has struck the Great Barrier Reef, as the world’s third mass bleaching event continues.
Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Director, Global Change Institute, The University of Queensland
Tyrone Ridgway, Healthy Oceans Program Manager, Global Change Institute, The University of Queensland
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/54884
2016-02-23T19:04:21Z
2016-02-23T19:04:21Z
The Great Barrier Reef faces a mixed future in acidifying oceans
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112049/original/image-20160219-1274-p108km.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Great Barrier Reef is made up of thousands of individual reefs. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/5182094443/in/photolist-cQZbq5-ukfNhp-97XHGx-cipyLA-6FEunP-8L4Ae8-6z8wKk-8NtT54-aWehNF-8RNcKi-dR3NXB-czVKFW-dR4v9P-9go8E4-akJmN3-8TVA8V-eeiQ1b-qQmRxF-gZUt1U-3Wea31-xJn7Ke-sy5aEc-be67X-4nnqHb-wVc94B-4ninPK-4ninY6-4nnrCw-4nimSk-4noLhy-4noyAq-4njuV4-4njrLt-4nju2i-4njF7F-4njujg-4nnsSo-4noGnA-4nipGx-4njE2p-4nnt35-4noE8m-4noDLC-4noCYE-4njyb2-4noDsU-4njysc-4njAxD-4nntj3-4nnkph">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Those of us who have been fortunate enough to have travelled to spectacular coral reefs marvel at their colour and biodiversity. </p>
<p>At around 2,000 km long, the Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system in the world. It includes 3,581 individual reefs and an immense lagoon. But the likelihood of future generations being able to enjoy the beauty of the Great Barrier Reef is dwindling, as it <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/great-barrier-reef-threats-series">comes under increasing pressure</a> from the degradation of water quality and climate change.</p>
<p>Warming water is one of the greatest threats facing the reef in the long term. But what about another consequence of rising carbon dioxide, <a href="https://theconversation.com/global-warmings-evil-twin-ocean-acidification-19017">ocean acidification</a>? </p>
<p>When carbon dioxide dissolves in water it (slightly) increases the water’s acidity, or lowers its pH. This affects the ability of marine creatures such crustaceans, corals and coralline algae to build their skeletons. But exactly how it will affect the whole reef ecosystem is unknown. </p>
<p>In research published in Nature Communications, <a href="http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/ncomms10732">we mapped parts of the reef that are most exposed to ocean acidification</a>. As you’d expect, there will be some regions more strongly affected than others, indicating where we might focus our efforts to preserve the reef. </p>
<h2>Building skeletons</h2>
<p>Conditions in the marine tropics are becoming less friendly for coral. Coral bleaching, cyclones, outbreaks of pest species and nutrient-impacted river run-off are now regular events that impact coral reef health. </p>
<p>What’s more, and perhaps more ominously, as the world’s oceans take up more carbon dioxide, it becomes harder for corals to secrete and maintain their calcium carbonate skeletons. While the exact response remains unknown, at some point thresholds will be reached at which dissolution exceeds calcification, leading to overall coral loss.</p>
<p>But ocean acidification doesn’t affect the whole reef equally. Corals change the chemistry of the seawater around them. In fact, corals are constantly building and dissolving their skeletons, taking up and releasing calcium carbonate into the water, thus increasing or lowering the pH.</p>
<p>The fine balance between these processes changes over the course of the day. Ocean circulation, as well as photosynthesis and respiration of other non-calcifying marine organisms, also determine the overall variability in pH of water above reefs, and therefore a coral’s ability to produce and maintain their structure.</p>
<p>While scientists have researched these effects on individual reefs, how do they play out on the thousands of reefs that make up the entire Great Barrier Reef? </p>
<p>To find the answer we used a new information system developed for the Great Barrier Reef. We found that some inshore reefs experience a lower pH now than is projected for offshore reefs in the future. </p>
<h2>Which reefs are most threatened?</h2>
<p>On the Great Barrier Reef, the ability for coral to build skeletons tends to decrease towards the coast. This is a consequence of the lower pH, and more nutrients, fresh water and sediment coming from the land.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111914/original/image-20160218-1240-1ktsoow.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111914/original/image-20160218-1240-1ktsoow.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111914/original/image-20160218-1240-1ktsoow.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=778&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111914/original/image-20160218-1240-1ktsoow.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=778&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111914/original/image-20160218-1240-1ktsoow.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=778&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111914/original/image-20160218-1240-1ktsoow.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=978&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111914/original/image-20160218-1240-1ktsoow.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=978&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111914/original/image-20160218-1240-1ktsoow.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=978&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">GBR Coral reef’s exposure to global ocean acidification, green reefs have some protection, white are neutral and red are already exposed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CSIRO</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But details of a more complex picture emerged from the study, highlighting the interaction between the thousands of reefs.</p>
<p>The outer reefs generally have Coral Sea water flowing over them, and for a thin band, especially in the north, their ability to build skeletons is actually driven by large scale oceanographic processes. But as the outer reef corals build their skeletons, the water flowing off them has lowered pH (more acidic). Circulation carries this water onto parts of the inner reefs, changing the average pH above their corals. </p>
<p>In other words, good coral health in the outer reefs, especially in the northern and southern regions, creates less favourable conditions for the mid lagoon central reefs. </p>
<h2>What can we do?</h2>
<p>While atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations are increasing, focus should shift to conserve parts of the Great Barrier Reef and its corals which can be achieved through changes in the way we manage the reef. The new map of pH on the Great Barrier Reef presents the exposure to ocean acidification on each of the 3,581 reefs, providing managers with the information they need to tailor management to individual reefs.</p>
<p>Thus we see the Great Barrier Reef is not a singular reef nor a physical barrier that prevents exchange between reefs; it is a mixture of thousands of productive reefs and shallow areas lying on a continental shelf with complex oceanic circulation. </p>
<p>We cannot treat the Great Barrier Reef as one entity. We cannot summarise the impact of global ocean acidification as one number, and we cannot have one management strategy (aside from cutting global carbon emissions) to protect it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/54884/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mathieu Mongin receives funding from the CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, and through resources made available through the eReefs project and the CSIRO Marine and Coastal Carbon Biogeochemistry Cluster,</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Lenton receives funding from CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Skerratt receives funding from the CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, and through resources made available through the eReefs project </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span><a href="mailto:mark.baird@csiro.au">mark.baird@csiro.au</a> receives funding from the eReefs project, a public-private collaboration between Australia's leading operational and scientific research agencies, government, and corporate Australia</span></em></p>
Ocean acidification will hurt some parts of the Great Barrier Reef more than others.
Mathieu Mongin, Biogeochemical Modeller, CSIRO
Andrew Lenton, Senior Research Scientist, CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, CSIRO
Jennifer Skerratt, Coastal and enivronmental modeller, CSIRO
Mark Baird, Team leader, Coastal and Environmental Modelling, CSIRO
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/47857
2015-09-22T20:10:29Z
2015-09-22T20:10:29Z
High-tech fertilisers and innovation have to come to the Great Barrier Reef’s rescue
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95624/original/image-20150922-31525-1flb65t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nitrogen pollution is one of the factors driving outbreaks of crown-of-thorns - giant starfish that devour the reef. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kawetijoru/2430988138/">Kenneth Taylor Jr/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The latest <a href="http://www.reefplan.qld.gov.au/measuring-success/report-cards/2014/">report card</a> on Great Barrier Reef water quality shows signs of improvement, but the health of the marine environment close to the shore remains poor, driven by pollution runoff from the land. Among the good news is that pollution levels in reef waters have declined in the past five years, and most pollutants seem to track towards the pollution reduction targets set for 2018.</p>
<p>For instance, phosphorus in reef waters fell by 14.5%, suggesting that the targeted 20% reduction in phosphorus loads by 2018 is achievable. Pesticide and sediment loads fell by about half, tracking towards the 60% reduction target for pesticides, and a more modest goal of 20% reduction of sediment load by 2018.</p>
<p>The bad news is that loads of dissolved inorganic nitrogen were lowered by only 17%, making it unlikely that the 50% reduction target will be reached by 2018. Nitrogen loads are up to nearly six times higher than natural background levels. </p>
<p>Around <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X11005583">80,000 tonnes</a> of pollutant nitrogen enters the Great Barrier Reef lagoon each year. The Burdekin, Wet Tropics and Mackay-Whitsunday regions contribute <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X11005583">over 78%</a> to the modelled dissolved inorganic nitrogen load primarily from agriculture. </p>
<p>Improving nitrogen management therefore remains a priority for the banana industry in the Wet Tropics, and the sugarcane industry in all production areas where rivers flow into the Great Barrier Reef.</p>
<h2>Why is nitrogen bad?</h2>
<p>Nitrogen discharge is considered a great water quality risk because it increases the presence of phytoplankton (algal blooms) which is associated with <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10533-010-9542-2">outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish</a>.</p>
<p>One of the biggest sources of nitrogen pollutants are fertilisers. Our research in collaboration with the sugar industry looks at fertiliser use on sugar cane, Queensland’s biggest crop. Covering 378,000 hectares, sugar cane contributes A$2 billion to Australia’s economy and has much potential to generate biofuel and materials for future economies. </p>
<p>Reducing nitrogen pollution remains a challenge. Only 13% of sugarcane land is managed with best practice for nutrients. On average <a href="http://www.sugarresearch.com.au/page/Research_funding/Review_of_Nitrogen_Use_Efficiency_in_Sugarcane/">only 30%</a> of the nitrogen in fertiliser ends up in the harvested crop, leaving the majority of fertiliser unaccounted for. While this paints a dim picture, it has to be seen in context of the tools available to reduce nitrogen pollution.</p>
<p>A key issue is that urea, the most widely used form of nitrogen fertiliser, dissolves rapidly in soil. Nitrogen fertiliser can be washed from the soil and into rivers if not acquired by the crop or bound by the soil. </p>
<p>In upcoming research we have demonstrated that most nitrogen is lost in the first few months of the 10- to 12-month sugarcane season because the concentrations exceed the crops’ ability to acquire it by several orders of magnitude. This clearly shows that the fertiliser we add, and the needs of sugar cane, are not a good match.</p>
<h2>Fertilisers go high-tech</h2>
<p>In recent years, more robust attempts have aimed to reduce nitrogen surpluses in sugar cane production by adapting fertiliser recommendations to more <a href="http://www.sugarresearch.com.au/page/Research_funding/Review_of_Nitrogen_Use_Efficiency_in_Sugarcane">specific yield targets</a>. These consider locally projected yields, and specifically take into account soil quality and yield potential at farm and paddock level.</p>
<p>Standing in the way of a rapid reduction of nitrogen pollution are several factors: the limited efficiency of urea fertiliser, degraded soils that have lost much of their ability to hold on to nitrogen, and growers unable to predict how much nitrogen they may lose from their soil.</p>
<p>Adding to the slow progress is that agronomic nitrogen management may only achieve <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880912000059">60% of the required improvement</a> for full nitrogen use efficiency. <a href="http://www.sugarresearch.com.au/page/Research_funding/Review_of_Nitrogen_Use_Efficiency_in_Sugarcane/">Genetic traits</a> that help crops use nitrogen more efficiently can contribute the remaining 40%. Breeding and selecting new sugar cane varieties can be advanced with further investment into variety development.</p>
<p>We urgently need technological innovations that reduce pollution at the least cost. This includes alternative sources of nitrogen, for example by growing sugarcane and legumes (which fix nitrogen from air) simultaneously.</p>
<p>The search for better nitrogen supply systems has only commenced in recent years. Several urea-based products have been tested – these contain enzyme inhibitors to slow down the release of nitrogen into the soil and conversion to nitrate. Other products contain polymer coatings that reduce the solubility of fertiliser. Though promising, these improved fertilisers have shortcomings and will not solve all problems.</p>
<p>New fertilisers are being designed and tested. They contain <a href="http://australianpork.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/2015_FactSheet_Advancing_Livestock_Waste.pdf">sorber materials</a> to bind nitrogen and release at a rate that matches what the crop needs. These NextGen fertilisers will recycle the nutrients and organic wastes generated by sugar mills. NextGen fertilisers will also deliver biostimulants that improve the biology of soils, reduce the effects of pathogens, and boost crop vigour.</p>
<p>Allowing science based innovation to assist in the quest for solving the nitrogen problem is the way forward, and this requires an open mind and investment into exploring new approaches and breakthrough technologies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47857/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susanne Schmidt receives funding from Sugar Research Australia and Department of Agriculture.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole Robinson receives funding from Sugar Research Australia and Department of Agriculture. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Brackin has recieved funding from the Department of Agriculture and Sugar Research Australia.</span></em></p>
The latest Great Barrier Reef report shows some improvements to water quality over the past five years, but there’s still a lot to do on one particular problem: nitrogen.
Susanne Schmidt, Teaching and Research Academic - Plant Science, The University of Queensland
Nicole Robinson, Research Fellow, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland
Richard Brackin, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The University of Queensland
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