Government hands in Reef report to World Heritage Committee

The Australian government has given the World Heritage Committee an update on the measures it has taken to protect the Great Barrier Reef from human-made climate change.

Last June, the World Heritage Committee chose not to list the Reef as “in danger,” but asked Australia to give an update on its preservation measures by February 1.

In the report, the Government has shown how its policies and scientific research are helping to protect the Heritage-listed reef.

Improving water quality, tough new fishing restrictions and unusual experiments in “cloud brightening” and “coral IVF” are all listed in the report.

The government said it had invested a record $1.2 billion in the Reef, while the Queensland government had invested more than $1 billion since 2015.

The Great Barrier Reef is “the best managed reef in the world” and the report showed “the significant action we are taking to protect this important natural wonder,” said Senator Nita Green, the government’s Special Envoy for the Reef.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has unveiled a new strategy to protect and restore the wetland areas of the Reef, which she said had decreased by over 50 per cent since European settlement.

Water quality improvements were a big focus in the government’s report, after the Committee said they were concerned that it was taking too long to meet targets.

The government had mapped all the areas with the most concerning sediment run-off and was repairing and restoring gullies where land from grazing was ending up in the sea, the report said.

It explained that 140,000 tonnes of sediment and 550,000kg dissolved inorganic nitrogen had been prevented from entering the Reef over the past decade.

The government also said that gillnet fishing was being phased out, with half the previously allowed number of licenses issued this month.

Conservationists welcomed the ban on gillnets, because dugongs and other protected species were dying in the mesh, but others warned the move could ruin the fishing industry.

The update report also looked at some of the more unusual things scientists were trying out to preserve the Reef, including experiments in “cloud brightening” and “local-scale fogging”.

These projects have been exploring whether it is possible to provide shade for coral reefs by artificially increasing the reflectiveness of clouds, or creating fogs to stop sunlight reaching below the sea surface.

Another innovative project – known as “Coral IVF” collects the slick formed by coral spawning, and uses it to create new life on damaged reefs.

The latest weekly report from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority said the widespread coral bleaching that had been feared over summer had not occurred – yet.

On January 25, the Authority said surveys of 227 reefs showed “most recorded none to minor coral bleaching, disease, and damage”.

But some reefs in the southern region were experiencing record outbreaks of the destructive crown-of-thorns starfish, and there were isolated outbreaks in the central region, the Authority warned.

POLL

GLOSSARY

• sediment: tiny particles of rock, soil and other materials like fertiliser that get moved by wind or water to a new location
• sediment run-off: when sediment gets washed into the sea and affects marine life
• inorganic nitrogen: components of fertilisers that can harm sea life if washed into the ocean
• decade: a period of 10 years
• gillnet fishing: a form of fishing that uses vertical walls of nets
• local-scale: something in a small area
• spawning: breeding
• coral bleaching: when coral expels the algae living in it due to water temperatures being too warm and the coral loses its bright colours
• isolated: not connected to others

EXTRA READING
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Record year for threatened species
Extreme heat warning for school return

QUICK QUIZ
1. Why did the Government hand in a report to the World Heritage Committee?
2. What are two measures outlined in the report?
3. Why have conservationists welcomed the ban on gillnet fishing?
4. What does “cloud brightening” involve?
5. How much sediment has been prevented from entering the Great Barrier Reef over the past decade?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Organising information
Create a table to organise some of the key information from this news story. Label one column “Threats” and the other column “Protection Measures”. Find and categorise the relevant information from the text. Draw connecting lines to match threats to the protection measures that are being taken against them. Are there any threats that are not being addressed?

Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Science; Sustainability

2. Extension
Choose one of the protection measures you identified to research further. Can you find information that helps you better understand what is being done? Draw a diagram or write a summary to help you explain the measure to a classmate.

Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Science; Sustainability

VCOP ACTIVITY
To sum it up
After reading the article, use your comprehension skills to summarise in a maximum of three sentences what the article is about.

Think about:
What is the main topic or idea?
What is an important or interesting fact?
Who was involved (people or places)?

Use your VCOP skills to re-read your summary to make sure it is clear, specific and well punctuated.