Canberra hails UN Barrier Reef decision
SYDNEY: Australia yesterday hailed a United Nations decision to keep the Great Barrier Reef off its endangered list as “tremendous”, but activists warned more must be done to improve the marine park’s health.
The world’s biggest coral reef ecosystem, which has had World Heritage Site status since 1981, has been under increasing threat from climate change, farming run-off and development.
“This is a tremendous decision,” Environment Minister Greg Hunt told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from Germany, where Unesco made its decision late on Wednesday, adding that Canberra had “clearly heard the concerns of the World Heritage Committee”.
Ahead of the decision, Unesco commended Australia’s recent efforts on working to ban the dumping of dredge spoil in the marine park, to limit port development and improve water quality.
“What we have got now is unanimous and overwhelming support for the reef, support for what Australia’s doing,” Mr Hunt said.
He added that more than AU$2 billion (50 billion baht) had been committed to protect the reef over the next decade.
The decision by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation will see the reef — a major tourist attraction off the Queensland coast — remain under surveillance but not listed as endangered.
Putting it on the “in danger” list would have been a huge embarrassment for Australia with the World Heritage Committee able to develop and adopt a programme for corrective measures.
Australia is now required to report back to the UN on its progress on implementing its “Reef 2050” plan by December 1, 2016. The plan outlines the government’s vision on continuing to improve the health of the reef over successive decades.
The Australian state of Queensland’s deputy premier, Jackie Trad, who travelled with Mr Hunt to the Unesco meeting in Bonn, said: “We know that the real work starts now.
“We have a strong suite of plans and commitments.”
Ms Trad praised the efforts of civil society groups and environmental activists in calling attention to the reef’s condition, which was described as “poor” in a scathing August 2014 Australian government report.
Conservation group WWF said the UN announcement was a “powerful decision that places Australia on probation over the health of the Great Barrier Reef”.
“The [World Heritage] Committee must continue to play this crucial role holding the Australian [federal] and Queensland governments to account and ensuring that promises are translated into real action and improvements in the health of the reef,” WWF-Australia chief executive Dermot O’Gorman said.