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Articles on Great Barrier Reef

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A healthy coral trout – the diseased fish are identified by dark lesions. Richard Ling

Skin cancer found in Great Barrier Reef fish

Scientists have identified skin cancer in the Great Barrier Reef’s wild fish populations which is almost identical to melanomas found in humans. The team of researchers from the Australian Institute of…
Many species of cone snail, which contain compounds needed to treat neurological diseases, still await discovery. Flickr/Phil Camill

Millions of unknown species likely in danger of extinction

The planet is home to anywhere between two million and 50 million undiscovered species, many of which are at threat from rampant habitat destruction, according to a report by an international team of researchers…
Quarries and quandaries: Australia’s natural splendour is a major source of income, yet it sits uncomfortably with mining’s spread. AAP/Fantasea Adventure Cruising

Mining and the environment: the future of Australia’s brand

Australia has built a strong global brand based on its iconic natural beauty. For example, the new Australia Tourism campaign, “There’s nothing like Australia”, features icons like the Kimberley, Uluru…
Sanctuary: marine parks can create new ways to prevent illegal fishing. Mia Hoogenboom, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University

Marine parks could help cut down on illegal fishing

Environment Minister Tony Burke announced the final proposed Commonwealth marine protected area (MPA) network last month. The network would be the largest in the world, covering more than a third of Commonwealth…
A bund wall surrounds the Fishermans Landing Wharf expansion in Gladstone. AAP/Dave Hunt

UNESCO throws down gauntlet on Great Barrier Reef ports

The sealing of a leak of dredge spoil (harbour-bottom scooped up and dumped in a landfill area) in a bund wall in Gladstone harbour was announced on 25th of June by the Gladstone Ports Corporation. Scientists…
The announcement of a marine park network is unlikely to calm the worries of Great Barrier Reef conservation groups. AAP/Greenpeace

New marine reserves won’t address UNESCO’s Reef concerns

Today’s announcement of a network of marine parks for Australia is a big step forward in marine conservation. However, major threats to one iconic marine area, the Great Barrier Reef, are land-based…
Networks of nature: a potato cod with striped cleaner wrasse at Osprey Reef, an area in the expanded marine reservations announced today. Flickr/richard ling

Big splash: welcome back to top-shelf marine conservation

Today’s announcement of a national network of marine parks is really a memorable day for Australian nature conservation. The political rhetoric and self-congratulation associated with major events is often…
Minister Tony Burke is slowing down coal development in Queensland, but there’s more to it than saving turtles. Landfeldt/Flickr

Commonwealth and Queensland face off over coal and Great Barrier Reef

The halt in the Alpha Coal Project approval process shows the Commonwealth is taking very seriously UNESCO’s recent report threatening downgrading the status of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area…
Can a booming coal industry and a Heritage-Listed reef co-exist? AAP/Dave Hunt

The Great Barrier Reef at a crossroads

Last Friday the World Heritage Centre and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released a report on the state of the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest World Heritage Property…
The Great Barrier Reef … in danger of a downgrade. Flickr/eutrophication&hypoxia

UNESCO’s Great Barrier Reef report: experts respond

A damning UNESCO report has criticised management of the Great Barrier Reef and warned that the area could be downgraded to a world heritage site “in danger” unless Australia makes major changes to its…
Another wave is coming: the coral-killing crown of thorns starfish. Flickr/<SLIM>

Great Barrier Reef dying beneath its crown of thorns

The Great Barrier Reef is under attack from a range of enemies including climate change effects (coral bleaching, increased severe storms, and ocean acidification), pollutant discharge from the land, coastal…
Even small scale, patchy reef restoration efforts can go a long way to repair coral ecosystems, new research has found. Flickr/gruntzooki

Coral rehab finding offers hope for Great Barrier Reef

Coral ecosystems cope much better than was first thought when the reef habitat is fragmented, a new study has found, meaning that efforts to restore even small parts of the damaged Great Barrier Reef could…
UK researchers say they are close to recreating in the lab a compound that coral uses to protect itself from UV light, paving the way for a ‘sunscreen pill’. Flickr/iefetell

Sunscreen pill may be five years away but Cancer Council urges caution

Sun-lovers may one day be able to pop a ‘sunscreen pill’ that uses a compound found in coral to protect skin from harmful UV light, according to UK researchers. Cancer Council Australia has cautiously…
Mass bleaching at the Keppel Islands in 2006. Our greatest natural asset is under threat, but you wouldn’t know it from reading Andrew Bolt. Ove Hoegh-Guldberg

Drowning out the truth about the Great Barrier Reef

MEDIA & DEMOCRACY - Ove Hoegh-Guldberg dives into the media’s coverage of an Australian icon’s future. One of the most straightforward climate change storylines is the link between global warming and…

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