Conservationists are calling for greater government action to protect the Great Barrier Reef, as a looming El Nino weather system threatens more coral bleaching. In a draft decision, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee has recommended against putting the reef on its list of sites in danger, while requesting greater ambition on climate change and efforts to improve water quality.
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TRANSCRIPT
Since 2021, the UN agency on world heritage, UNESCO, has been monitoring the health of the Great Barrier Reef.
Stretching 2,300-kilometres along Queensland's coast, the reef is a global icon, and home to nearly 9,000 marine species.
But its delicate ecosystem has been threatened by multiple coral bleaching events, which have seen it come close to being added to the UNESCO List of World Heritage sites in danger.
Ahead of a formal meeting later this month, the UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee has released a draft decision on the reef's status.
The committee says it won't be added to the 'in danger' list, while warning more action is needed to protect the site.
Federal Assistant Minister for Tourism, Nita Green, says the decision reflects progress on the government's part.
"Australia welcomes UNESCO's decision to not list the reef as endangered and recognise all of the work that's been going into protecting the reef and managing the reef for many years now. We know that it's incredibly important to protect this special icon, an icon that so many travellers visit from year to year, and an icon that supports 77,000 jobs."
In its interim ruling, the committee identified water quality as a particular concern - and called for an assessment of the impact of dredging sediment across the region.
The Queensland government says the committee's decision recognises the effort by the federal and state government to safeguard the reef, including looking at water quality, the health of wetlands and management of runoff and fisheries.
Ms Green says funding from the Queensland and federal governments to protect the reef have amounted to more than $5 billion since 2014.
"But what's significant about this decision is that it only asks Australia to come back with a progress report in 2028; and a full conservation report in 2029 to be considered in 2030. This is the first time in quite a few years since we've been working to restore the Great Barrier Reef under this government that we've had such an extensive reporting period put to us. We're excited by that."
Conservationists have expressed more concern than excitement, urging governments to go further and faster in protecting the reef.
Dr Lissa Schindler is the Australian Marine Conservation Society's Great Barrier Reef campaign manager.
"If you read the decision thoroughly though, UNESCO has still raised concerns about the threats that are threatening the Great Barrier Reef. They're still worried about climate change, water pollution and fisheries. And if this was really the best result that Australia is saying, then UNESCO would have told Australia: 'That's great, you're done. We don't need to see you again'. Instead, they've asked Australia to come back in two years time to report back on how they're going addressing these threats."
Dr Schindler remains concerned about issues like an ongoing coral harvesting industry, but she acknowledges the government has taken positive steps to address local threats.
"The first thing was really they've banned gillnets in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. This was nets that were really big. And they were not only catching fish species, but also threatened species like dugongs. They're now being phased out."
UNESCO has also welcomed the government's efforts to address crown of thorns starfish and manage fisheries more sustainably.
Another positive point was recent reform to the Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act - Australia's national nature laws.
One aspect of those reforms will be new restrictions on land clearing near waterways that flow through to the Barrier Reef.
"And so that looks really good on paper, but we're yet to see if that's actually going to make a difference; because tree clearing in the Great Barrier Reef catchments has been really problematic because when you remove trees, you create erosion and then that equals more soil running out into the Great Barrier Reef."
Dr Schindler says that those tree clearing reforms rely on regulation that's still being developed, as well as effective enforcement, where the Queensland government will play a key role.
Richard Leck is the head of oceans at WWF-Australia (the World Wide Fund for Nature Australia).
He's also waiting to see how the reforms work in practice.
"The reforms to EPBC Act, the new nature laws, took a very long time, but in some ways that was the easy part of the process. The difficult part becomes in implementing those reforms - but they are absolutely critical. Making sure that trees aren't cleared to creek line, to river line, making sure we're not clearing remnant vegetation."
Water pollution is the second greatest threat to the reef, and Dr Schindler says the government has a history of failing to meet its own targets.
"Water pollution has been going on for decades. It's a major problem facing the Great Barrier Reef and there have been targets that have been put in place which are to cut particular pollutants running into the reef. And these targets have never been achieved. So this is the third time the government has pushed these targets back; and UNESCO has once again flagged concern with that and asked Australia to accelerate efforts in that space."
Mr Leck says improving water quality would help boost resilience across the reef - and provide some support against its greatest threat.
"Look, obviously taking action on climate change is the number one thing that we can do to protect the reef. And acting on the pollution that flows to the reef's water is the second most important thing we can do."
In its draft report, UNESCO notes that above-average water temperatures have driven six mass coral bleaching events over the last decade, significantly impacting coral cover.
Richard Leck says some reef sites have seen bleaching up to 90 per cent, with 40 to 50 per cent bleaching across the broader Barrier Reef.
And this summer, temperatures are forecast to rise.
"The fact that the system is now switching over into an El Nino type, which is typically much hotter with very little rain, with very little mixing of ocean waters means the reef will become under increasing heat stress. And if you look at some of those maps that have been published lately, you can see this incredible hot pulse of water moving across the Pacific towards Australia and the Great Barrier Reef."
Senator Peter Whish-Wilson is the Greens spokesperson for healthy oceans.
He says the government needs to do more to address climate change.
"When they say that they're doing enough to secure the future of the Great Barrier Reef, they're not. It's actual greenwash. It allows them to keep approving new fossil fuel projects. And the World Heritage Committees clearly said you need to be doing more. We'll revisit this in 2028. So if Murray Watt goes ahead and approves massive new climate wrecking carbon bombs like the Browse Project off Northwest of WA, one of the biggest fossil fuel projects in our nation's history, then that needs to be clocked by UNESCO."
He says Australia's current emissions trajectory puts the reef on a path to death.
"Clearly, we've seen multiple mass coral bleaching over many years. It is only going to get worse. The best thing we could do is actually declare the Great Barrier Reef in danger. In fact, all the world's coral reefs in danger. It's the loudest possible siren call for action so that the world's decision makers in the parliaments of the world will get on with actually doing what they need to do and radically reduce emissions and try and protect our coral reefs."
Mr Whish-Wilson says that should be motivation to step up action to support the reefs to recover and regenerate.
"If we can reduce emissions quickly enough around the world, there is a future for these coral reefs and that is absolutely worth fighting for. In the meantime, doing whatever you can to increase the resilience of those reefs by, for example, reducing pollution from agricultural runoff or from tourism, and a whole range of things we can look at to regrow corals that are more heat resistant, more thermally tolerant."
Richard Leck says he sees hope in the latest science which shows some reefs exhibit natural levels of heat tolerance.
"That may be due to their assemblage of species. It may be due to their position next to cool water upwellings, but there's increasing research that shows we have these what some people call lifeboat reefs, reefs that will resist some of those extreme temperatures. And that's what gives me a lot of hope is that we need to focus on how do we give those reefs the best level of protection possible to withstand and recover from those inevitable climate impacts that will come their way."
