A report card prepared by the Australian and Queensland governments shows water quality in the inshore of the Great Barrier Reef remains poor, angering environmentalists.
The report card, provided to journalists after a media conference with the conservative Liberal-National government’s Environment Minister Greg Hunt and his Queensland LNP government counterpart Andrew Powell, breaks water quality readings into six geographic zones.
The United Nations body UNESCO, which administers World Heritage listings, will next week consider listing the Reef as “in danger” and Mr Powell has said he will go to the UNESCO meeting to try to persuade UNESCO that the Reef is being cared for.
In response to the report environmental lobby group WWF-Australia said; “the Reef Report Card released today by the Queensland and Australian Governments fall well short of what is needed to save the Great Barrier Reef, and well short of the government’s own targets.”
At the same time Australian Greens Party Senator Larissa Waters said the report card did not ease her fears.
“UNESCO won’t be fooled, they’re concerned specifically about industrialisation of the reef,” she said.
The report shows that in the overall Great Barrier Reef section, the inshore reef “remained poor”. Inshore sea grass showed “some signs of recovery” in some areas, improving from “very poor” to “poor”.
In the Cape York section, the overall marine condition improved from “poor” to “moderate”. One southern sea grass bed in this section was in “poor condition.”
In the Wet Tropics area, sea grass meadows declined from “poor” to “very poor”. Coral reefs declined from “moderate” to “poor”.
In the Burdekin region, the overall inshore area remained “poor”, sea grass meadows improved from “very poor” to “poor”, while water quality remained moderate.
In the Mackay Whitsunday area, inshore sea grass meadows remained “very poor”, the inshore marine environment remained “poor” and coral reefs remained in a “moderate” condition.
Further south, in the Fitzroy River section, coral reefs declined from ” poor to very poor”, overall inshore conditions remained “poor”, while “inshore sea grass meadows” and the overall inshore environment was described as remaining “poor”.
Media reports say before journalists saw the results, both ministers said the report card showed the reef was in the improvement phase.
Mr Powell said the results showed the conditions on the reef were at a “watershed” stage.
Mr Hunt acknowledged the report card showed reef conditions were “poor, but on the improve”.
The two ministers today signed the $40 million Reef Trust and outlined where the first $15 million would be spent.
Initially, $5 million will be spent on dugong and turtle protection.
A further $2 million will be spent on the crown of thorns starfish “one shot” injection program, $5 million will go to control runoff, including nitrogen, from the Wet Tropics area, while $3 million will be spent to control runoff from the Burdekin and Fitzroy regions.
“Today’s Report Card shows the Queensland and Australian Governments are way off the mark when it comes to meeting their own targets for improving water quality,” WWF spokesperson Sean Hoobin said.
“If we want the Reef to survive, we needs billions, not millions of dollars committed, as happened with the Murray-Darling rescue package.
“Many farmers are putting in the hard yards to improve practices to help stop pollution flowing to the Reef, but our governments need to do much more and commit serious dollars so we can have productive agriculture and a healthy reef.
“While the farming community has started to step up to the plate and address threats to the Great Barrier Reef, the resources industry are now set to undo that good work with destructive plans for dumping in the World Heritage Area.”
WWF-Australia CEO Dermot O’Gorman said the Great Barrier Reef was both an economic and environmental asset.
“With proper management we can have viable agriculture, fishing and tourism industries, as well as an environmental wonder to pass onto our children,” Mr O’Gorman said.
“The World Heritage Committee is taking their responsibilities seriously, and we urge the Queensland and Australian governments to respond to the concerns of the committee and the Australian community.”
