Australian cash for Great Barrier Reef rescue ideas

Sydney, Jan. 16: Australia is calling on the world’s top scientific minds to help save the Great Barrier Reef, offering hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund research into protecting the world’s largest living structure. The Unesco World Heritage- listed reef is reeling from significant coral bleaching due to warming sea temperatures linked to climate change. The 2,300- km site is also under pressure from farming runoff, development and predatory crown- of- thorns starfish, with experts warning it could be suffering irreparable damage. On Tuesday, the Austral- ian government announ- ced a Aus-$ 2 million funding pot available to people with bright ideas on how to save the reef. “The scale of the problem is big and big thinking is needed, but it’s important to remember that solutions can come from anywhere,” said environment minister Josh Frydenberg.

He said the money would be available to the world’s “greatest scientific minds, industry and business leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs”.

“Solutions could focus on anything from reducing the exposure of corals to physical stressors, to boosting coral regeneration rates by cultivating reef- building coral larvae that attract other important marine species,” Mr Frydenberg added. Up to Aus-$ 250,000 is available for an initial feasibility stage, where researchers can test the technical and commercial viability of their proposals for up to six months.