Canberra released a five-yearly review of the reef and moves to protect it, to address concerns raised by UNESCO and persuade the world body not to put the key tourist attraction on its "in danger" list next year. "Even with the recent management initiatives to reduce threats and improve resilience, the overall outlook for the Great Barrier Reef is poor, has worsened since 2009 and is expected to further deteriorate," the government said in its outlook report.
The reef, which stretches 2,300 kilometers along Australia's east coast, is the centerpiece of a campaign by green groups and marine tourist operators aiming to stop a planned coal port expansion that would require millions of cubic meters of sand to be dredged up and dumped near the reef.
The reef has the world's largest collection of coral reefs, with 400 types of coral, 1,500 species of fish, 4,000 types of mollusc, and is home to threatened species, the World Heritage list says.
The government said run-off from farms, crown-of-thorns starfish and climate change remain the biggest threats to the reef, but acknowledged that shipping and dredging occur in reef areas already facing pressure from other impacts. "Greater reductions of all threats at all levels, reef-wide, regional and local, are required to prevent the projected declines in the Great Barrier Reef and to improve its capacity to recover," the government said.
The government said it would not allow any port development outside long-established ports in Queensland. Those existing ports include Abbot Point, where India's Adani Group and compatriot GVK plan a huge coal terminal expansion, and Gladstone, where ship traffic is set to increase sharply from 2015 as huge new liquefied natural gas plants start exports.
Green groups said the report did not let off the hook the mining industry, which is digging up coal for export, adding to climate change and expanding ports along the reef. "The greatest risk, again, is climate change," said Wendy Tubman, an official of the North Queensland Conservation Council.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has asked Australia to submit an updated report on the state of conservation of the reef, which sprawls over an area half the size of Texas, by next February 1.
Sources: Reuters - globaltimes.cn
13/8/14
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Related:
Protection plan 'will not save Great Barrier Reef' ...
ReplyDeleteAustralia's Academy of Science says an Australian government draft plan to protect the Great Barrier Reef will not prevent its decline.
The group said the Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan failed to address key pressures on the reef including climate change and coastal development.
Much bolder action was needed, said Academy Fellow Professor Terry Hughes.
"The science is clear, the reef is degraded and its condition is worsening," said Prof Hughes.
"This is a plan that won't restore the reef, it won't even maintain it in its already diminished state," he said in a statement released on Tuesday.
"It is also more than disappointing to see that the biggest threat to the reef - climate change - is virtually ignored in this plan."
Public submissions on the draft plan - an overarching framework for protecting and managing the reef from 2015 to 2050 - closed on Monday.
The plan will eventually be submitted to the World Heritage Centre in late January, for consideration by Unesco's World Heritage Committee mid-next year. Unesco has threatened to place the reef on its List of World Heritage in Danger. ..............http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-29782610
28/10/14
Grande Barrière de corail l'état d'urgence ...
ReplyDeleteLe joyau marin de l'Australie se dégrade dangereusement. Pollution, trafic maritime, projets d'infrastructures menacent le site, que l'Unesco envisage d'inscrire sur la liste du patrimoine mondial en péril.
C'est un monde multicolore, empreint de sérénité. Un « monde du silence » d'une extraordinaire biodiversité. Des milliers d'espèces différentes s'y côtoient. Plus de 3.000 sortes de mollusques ; 600 coraux différents, dont certains vieux de plus de quatre siècles ; 1.600 espèces de poissons, dont le célèbre poisson-clown ; près de 140 requins et raies divers ou encore 6 races de tortues marines. Un cadeau des dieux aussi vaste que l'Italie, qui longe sur 2.300 kilomètres la côte nord-est de l'Etat australien du Queensland. La Grande Barrière de corail, l'icône absolue de l'Australie, est pourtant en danger. Trente-quatre ans après l'avoir classé au patrimoine mondial de l'humanité, l'Unesco pourrait décider en juin prochain d'inscrire le site sur la liste du patrimoine mondial en péril. Ce serait un véritable camouflet pour le gouvernement australien, qui vient juste d'achever la consultation publique sur le Plan de développement durable de la Grande Barrière à l'horizon 2050. Pour Canberra, le temps presse.
Les autorités australiennes se préoccupent pourtant du problème de longue date. Dès 1975, conscientes de l'inestimable valeur du site, elles ont créé la Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), véritable centre d'expertise destiné à protéger le site pour les générations futures. Quatre ans plus tard, un accord est signé entre l'Etat du Queensland et l'exécutif fédéral pour gérer au quotidien cette Grande Barrière qui accueille chaque année pas moins de 2 millions de touristes, génère 5,4 milliards de dollars australliens (3,8 milliards d'euros) de recettes et près de 70.000 emplois......http://www.lesechos.fr/journal20141119/lec1_enquete/0203818826591-grande-barriere-de-corail-letat-durgence-1065735.php?xtor=RSS37&bZcRhEUX5yuigWpj.99
19/11/14