Australia must do more to protect reef, says Unesco

SYDNEY: The United Nations cultural heritage body Unesco urged Australia yesterday to accelerate efforts to save the Great Barrier Reef, saying long term targets to improve its health were unlikely to be met.

Progress towards achieving water quality targets has been slow, and Australia was at risk of falling short of its 2050 goals, Unesco warned in a draft assessment of world heritage sites prepared ahead of a meeting in Krakow, Poland, in July.

“The World Heritage Centre and IUCN consider that the implementation of the Plan will need to accelerate to ensure that the intermediate and long-term targets of 2050 LTSP (LongTerm Sustainability Plan) are being met, in particular regarding water quality,” the report said.

Australia’s Reef 2050 Plan was released in 2015 and is a key part of the government’s bid to prevent the World Heritage Site being placed on the United Nation’s ‘in danger’ list.

A negative rating for the Great Barrier Reef – located off the country’s northeast coast – would be embarrassing for the Australian government and damage its lucrative tourism industry.

The reef is facing a number of threats, including poor water quality due to agricultural runoff, climate change, illegal fishing and coastal development.

Back to back coral bleaching events driven by climate change and El Nino over the past two years have devastated large parts of the reef.

Unesco praised the inception and initial implementation of the government’s plan, as well as the US$1.28 billion investment strategy for the next five years. — Reuters

Peter Gash, owner and manager of the Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort, snorkels with Oliver Lanyon and Lewis Marshall, Senior Rangers in the Great Barrier Reef region for the Queenlsand Parks and Wildlife Service, during an inspection of the reef’s...