Australia on notice over Great Barrier Reef's environmental damage

Tom Arup The Age Sydney Morning Herald 18 Jun 14;

Australia has been given another year to avoid the Great Barrier Reef being put on a list of World Heritage protected sites considered "in danger", but has received an international dressing down for a recent approval of dredging and dumping in the natural wonder’s waters.

At a meeting in Doha, the World Heritage Committee agreed to keep the threat of putting the reef on the "in danger" list hanging over Australia’s head, but pushed back consideration of the move until a meeting in 2015.

It gives Australia another 12 months to keep addressing concerns first raised by the United Nation’s heritage body – UNESCO – back in 2012 about the health of the reef and the impact of significant new port and resources development on the reef shoreline.

As part of its decision the committee approved recommendations from UNESCO that "concern" and "regret" be expressed about the federal government’s approval of dredging and dumping of 3 million cubic metres of sludge in the reef’s waters as part of the development of new coal ports at Abbot Point, north of Bowen.

But there was debate. During the meeting, Malaysian delegates sought to remove references to concern and regret in the decision, but failed when the majority of other member countries of the committee spoke against the move. Malaysia also wanted the text to be changed to remove UNESCO’s concern that the approval was made before a comprehensive assessment of less impactful alternatives was undertaken, and instead say a full assessment had been carried out.

Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt said he was pleased the Committee did not list the reef as "in danger" and had acknowledged the significant work and progress of Australia in protecting the reef.

"UNESCO started the consideration of the reef’s health under the previous Labor government in June 2011. Since that time they have now formally recognised significant work and progress in reef protection," Mr Hunt said.

Mr Hunt said the Australia and Queensland governments were jointly investing about $180 million annually in the reef’s health.
He said the approval of Abbot Point development had complied with Australia’s obligations under the World Heritage Convention and was subject to rigorous environmental assessment.

Earlier Australia's representative at the meeting said the suggestion the country had not carried out a complete approval process was "factually incorrect".

Queensland Environment Minister Andrew Powell also spoke on Australia's behalf, pointing to substantial progress on the concerns about the reef's health through new strategic plans to guide port development and reduced pollution run-off, among other measures.

Speaking before the decision on Wednesday, Mr Powell told ABC radio the committee was being misinformed about the health of the reef.

"A lot of misinformation is being conveyed to the World Heritage Committee and to the member states, and that’s the importance of why I’ve come here," Mr Powell said.

Last week the federal and Queensland governments sought to allay concerns the reef’s World Heritage status would be downgraded after it released a report showing large reductions in pollution run-off into the reef’s waters - one of the main sources of poor water quality in the World Heritage site - following years of work with landholders.

As part of its decision the World Heritage Committee welcomed the progress made by the two governments on water quality and encouraged them to continue and where necessary expand their efforts.

WWF campaigner Richard Leck, who is also in Doha and addressed the meeting, said the committee had stood firm on the need for stronger reef protection and had maintained its strong language about the approval of the Abbot Point dredging and dumping.

"This decision puts the Australian government on notice for 2015 that they need to lift their efforts to avoid the reef being listed as in danger next year," he said.

Also as part of the decision the World Heritage Committee said it considered the move by the Abbott government to devolve federal environmental approval powers to the states as premature before a long-term plan for sustainable development for the reef was adopted.

Labor environment spokesman Mark Butler said the world heritage committee had delivered a harsh verdict on the government's management of the reef.

"With this latest warning from the World Heritage Committee, Labor calls on Tony Abbott to reconsider his dangerous handover of federal environmental approval powers," Mr Butler said.

“Protection of the Great Barrier Reef should be the responsibility of the national government. That’s how the World Heritage Committee sees it; it’s how Australians see it too."

Greens environment spokeswoman Larissa Waters said the committee had given the Australian and Queensland governments one last chance to better protect the reef.

“This is the third and probably the final warning from the World Heritage Committee for the future of our reef,” she said.

UN expresses alarm about proposed dumping in Great Barrier Reef
Approval for dumping dredged material as part of Abbot Point coal development could place site on Unesco list of shame
Karl Mathiesen theguardian.com 18 Jun 14;

The UN has expressed alarm at Australia’s proposal to dump 3m cubic metres of dredged material into the Great Barrier Reef world heritage site, saying the development could place the site on Unesco’s list of shame.

The Australian and Queensland governments have granted approval for dumping as part of the expansion of the Abbot Point coal port, which lies on the fringes of the reef.

At the annual meeting of the Unesco world heritage committee in Doha, delegates “noted with concern” the Abbot Point project. Australia was warned the reef could be added to the World Heritage in Danger list at the next meeting in 2015 if alternative development methods were not considered.

The committee said it: “regrets the state party’s approval for dumping 3m cubic metres of dredge material inside the property prior to having undertaken a comprehensive assessment of alternative and potentially less impacting development and disposal options”.

Conservation groups have said the dumping could irreparably damage the coral. The reef survives on a delicate symbiosis between its plants and animals. Corals provide the skeleton on which the entire ecosystem is built. These interactions are already significantly threatened by the runoff of agricultural chemicals and destruction of increasingly fragile corals by cyclones. In three decades the coral cover on the reef has fallen by 50%.

Australian efforts to improve the water quality on the reef were praised by Unesco. A recent government study found efforts to improve water quality were working, leading the Australian and Queensland government to call for Unesco to drop its consideration of the site as threatened.

But Australian promises that dredging effects would be offset by a 150% overall improvement were called into question by delegates who said they had not seen a concrete proposal for how this would be achieved. Australia responded by saying the 150% improvement was legally binding and would therefore be achieved, but failed to demonstrate how this would happen.

Questions were also raised over Australia’s decision to transfer oversight of environmental decisions from the federal government to the Queensland state government. The committee said the move was “premature, and should be postponed to allow further consideration” of the effect this might have on the management of the park.

The World Heritage in Danger list is dominated by sites in countries torn apart by conflict. It is used to urge, assist and sometimes embarrass countries into protecting the properties they manage that are significant to all humankind. Icons of Syria, Congo, Iraq and Afghanistan make up one third of the 45 of the listed properties. If the reef were to be placed on the list it would join just a handful of sites from developed countries to be considered threatened.

“The world heritage committee has resisted intense pressure from the Australian and Queensland governments to water down its decision on the reef,” said WWF-Australia reef campaigner Richard Leck. “Instead, the committee has put Australia firmly on notice to take stronger action to protect the Great Barrier Reef."

Australia has promised to deliver a long-term plan for sustainable development before the committee next meets in 2015. The government says this will provide assurances to the committee that it is able to protect the reef.

The Queensland environment minister, Andrew Powell, was in Doha to make the Australian case to delegates. He said he felt "overwhelmingly positive, very appreciative that the committee has not listed the reef in danger and has deferred its consideration for another 12 months". This would give the government enough time to deliver comprehensive plans for the ongoing care of the reef, he said.

Powell said the concerns over the approval of the dredging process being given before an offsetting plan had been created were unfounded.

"The approval was given on the basis that 150% offsetting can be achieved. So the project cannot proceed unless they can demonstrate that they achieve that 150% offset."

Australia makes strides in cleaning up Great Barrier Reef - U.N. body
James Regan PlanetArk 20 Jun 14;

The United Nations on Wednesday said Australia was making progress to preserve the Great Barrier Reef, a key tourist attraction that environmentalists say faces threats from industrial and agricultural development.

The World Heritage Committee of U.N. agency UNESCO, meeting in Doha this week, deferred until 2015 a decision on whether to place the 300,000-sq-km reef on its list of sites in danger.

"We welcome Australia's progress in managing the reef," panel director Kishore Rao said in a statement. "UNESCO is confident the overall direction towards next year's decision is a positive one."

Some estimates say contamination from agricultural and mining industries operating near the coastline has destroyed half of the reef's coral cover, but this figure is disputed.

"The committee has put Australia firmly on notice to take stronger action to protect the Great Barrier Reef," said Richard Leck, a spokesman for the World Wildlife Fund.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, including the dugong and large green turtle, according to the World Heritage list.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation is concerned over proposed coastal developments, including the building of ports and natural gas facilities.

It 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.

Germany's largest bank, Deutsche Bank AG, has said it will not finance a controversial coal port expansion near the reef, in response to calls from green groups and tourism operators. [ID:nL3N0O90L3]

An Australian government report released last week showed a drop in sediment run-off, widely associated with one of the reef's biggest threats - the displacement of coral-eating starfish.

The report also cited better land management that led to a 28 percent cut in pesticide run-off on to the reef.

Sugarcane is grown on large tracts of land near the reef, while coal freighters regularly ply nearby waters.

Australia is investing about A$180 million ($169.18 million) every year to protect and rehabilitate the reef, says Environment Minister Greg Hunt.

"The Great Barrier Reef is facing challenges but we are absolutely committed to protecting and improving the health of this iconic natural wonder so it can be enjoyed by future generations," Hunt said in a statement.

(Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)