Entsch to showcase reef off Port Douglas to delegation of ambassadors
GBR
A delegation of ambassadors will visit the Great Barrier Reef off Port Douglas today ahead of the UN’s all-important vote determining if the ocean jewel should be classified as “in danger”.
Special Envoy for the Great Barrier Reef and Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch will host the delegation and will highlight Australia’s commitment to protecting the Reef and the science that underpins Australia’s $3 billion commitment to managing the Reef.
Mr Entsch said the group will go to Agincourt Reef, one of the most frequently visited tourist sites, and an example of how individual reefs can and are recovering from extreme weather.
“A lot of people talk about the Great Barrier Reef without understanding the sheer size of it or the ways in which it can adapt,” Mr Entsch said.
“Local communities, Traditional Owners, marine scientists, tourism operators and farmers are working together to protect the Reef and this work plan is a key part of that process.
“We will be meeting with scientists, travelling out onto the water and looking at some of the challenges that Agincourt has faced through Crown of Thorns, cyclones and bleaching.
“Most importantly, we will be looking at the way it is recovering because it is a magnificent place to visit and it is an example of the way well managed and cared for reefs can adapt and recover.
“The Great Barrier Reef is made up of 3000 connected reefs covering 334,00 square kilometres, and it is important people experience it first-hand to understand its complexity and its wonder.
“It is important they get an insight into the fantastic ways local communities, Traditional Owners, marine scientists, tourism operators and farmers work together to protect the Reef, something that is vital to the local economy and Australia’s tourism industry.”
In June the UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee released a draft recommendation for the Great Barrier Reef to be listed as ‘in danger’, in a move which could put the Reef’s World Heritage status at risk.
At the time, Australian officials said they had been left “blindsided” by the move, labelling it as “political” and saying they would strongly challenge the recommendation before it went to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting hosted by China later this month.
Today's delegation is expected to include fifteen ambassadors or ambassadorial representatives, flying in from Canberra, with nine from countries with voting rights in the meeting to determine the Reef’s listing.
More action set to improve reef health
It comes as the Great Barrier Reef Foundation has identified $111 million in spending under the landmark Reef Trust Partnership over the next financial year that will help keep Australia on track to meet its 2025 Reef water quality improvement targets and drive forward the world’s largest scientific collaboration to help coral reefs adapt to changing ocean temperatures.
The 2021-22 annual work plan represents a critical plank in the Australian and Queensland Government’s $3 billion commitment to the Reef and underlines the importance of the Commonwealth’s $443.3 million investment in the Partnership.
Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley said over the next financial year, the Reef Trust Partnership will direct $45.35 million towards water quality improvements, $31.13 million for coral restoration and adaptation and $8.7 million to control coral-eating Crown-of-Thorns-Starfish outbreaks.
“The $31.13 million being invested in the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program through the Foundation will advance new technologies such as heat resistant corals to help adapt to climate change.”
By 2024, the Reef Trust Partnership investments in water quality will see an annual reduction in the amount of fine suspended sediment entering the Reef each year of 462 kilotonnes, with a 456 tonne reduction in dissolved inorganic nitrogen and a 250 kilogram reduction in pesticides.
The Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program will deliver a toolbox of scientifically proven, ecologically effective and economically viable restoration and adaptation techniques for implementation in Australia and around the world.
Great Barrier Reef Foundation managing director Anna Marsden said that in 2021-22 the Reef Trust Partnership will continue to fund the largest scale on-ground intervention program on the Great Barrier Reef aimed at directly protecting coral – the Crown-Of-Thorns starfish control program – as well as work to improve the prediction, detection and response to outbreaks.
“Under the Reef Trust Partnership there has been a groundswell of support from the people who live and work on and near the Reef, with 1,200 farmers helping to improve water quality, 24,000 community members engaged in delivering Reef protection activities, 120 scientists and engineers working on the world’s largest coral reef restoration and adaptation program, 32 Traditional Owner groups caring for Land and Sea Country and more 100 marine vessel and tourism staff on the frontline helping protect coral from coral-eating starfish,” Ms Marsden said.
“2021-22 will see the implementation of projects that bring together over 135 community groups working along the length of the Great Barrier Reef with a shared ambition to deliver a brighter future for their reef.”