Battle looms on reef grading

Government set for fight

THE Australian government will contest any moves to list the Great Barrier Reef as being “in danger”, with Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek declaring: “If the Great Barrier Reef is in danger, then every coral reef in the world is in danger”.

The expert panel of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee (WHC) released an assessment of the 2200kmlong natural wonder on Monday night, Australian time, recommending it be placed on the “in danger” list.

The panel’s monitoring mission took place in March this year as the reef was going through a mass coral bleaching event – its fourth in six years.

But in August, the Australian Institute of Marine science found coral coverage in some parts of the reef were at the highest levels since monitoring began in the late 1980s.

Ms Plibersek stressed the WHC had not yet made a recommendation, but confirmed the government would contest such a move.

“We’ll clearly make the point to UNESCO there is no need to single out the reef in this way,” she said.

“It’s important to say climate change is a risk to ecosystems like the Great Barrier Reef, but that means it’s a risk to every reef globally,” she said.

In their report, the WHC assessment team noted “the unparalleled science and management efforts” to preserve the reef, but argued it was threatened by climate change and poor water quality.

Ms Plibersek said some of the water quality concerns had been addressed by the decision to de-fund the Urannah and Hells Gate dams proposed by the Morrison government.

Queensland Tourism Industry Council CEO Brett Fraser said the reef contributed $6.4 billion to the national economy each year and supported roughly 64,000 jobs.

“Public perceptions of the Great Barrier Reef as vibrant and healthy are imperative to visitation levels. Classifying the reef as ‘in danger’ will have a significant impact on this public perception,” Mr Fraser said.

“Improving the health of the reef remains a top priority for our tourism industry.”

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said an “in danger” listing should be put on hold until 2024 to enable an appropriate government response, but the Australian and Queensland governments should implement the recommendations of the report in full.