Save Great Barrier Reef from becoming dumping ground

WWF 9 Feb 15;

If unchecked, reckless industrialization alongside the Great Barrier Reef could cause severe damage to one of Earth’s most important environmental systems, according to a new report commissioned by WWF. The Great Barrier Reef Under Threat found that the dumping of waste from port expansions within its World Heritage-listed boundaries would have “devastating impacts” on the reef.

In order to prevent unacceptable new stress on this already-vulnerable ecosystem, WWF is calling on the Australian government to ban all dumping of dredge spoil in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Site.

“The Great Barrier Reef is one of the planet’s richest ocean habitats, home to endangered species, a valuable economic asset for Australia, and a natural treasure for the whole world.Turning the reef into a dumping ground is the wrong choice for the environment and makes no business sense, particularly to build ports that are unnecessary,” said WWF International Director General Marco Lambertini.

TAKE ACTION NOW! SAY NO TO DUMPING ON THE REEF.

Port expansion plans call for the dredging of approximately 51 million cubic metres of the ocean floor, enough seabed to fill up New York City’s Empire State Building 49 times. Without new laws to ban sea-dumping, much of that waste could be dumped in the Great Barrier Reef’s sensitive World Heritage waters, where it can cause damaging plumes of sediment that can drift for up to 80 kilometres. Dredging and dumping can smother corals and threaten the survival of endangered species like marine turtles.

Multi-national coal companies are seeking to more than double coal export capacity in the state of Queensland, even though the state’s existing coal port capacity sits unused one-third of the time, the analysis by independent consulting firm Dalberg Global Development Advisors found. Under current plans, Queensland’s coal export capacity would increase to 637 million tonnes annually, when near-term forecasts predict that Australia as a whole will export significantly less than that.

The coal industry globally appears to be in structural decline as renewable energy gains ground, the report says. “As a result, it is unlikely that all of the proposed coal ports will be needed. The damage to the reef, however, will have been made,” it says.

“To protect the reef and to safeguard the 69,000 jobs it provides, the Australian government needs to work with the state of Queensland to legislate a ban on the dumping of dredge spoil in the entire Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Site,” said Dermot O’Gorman, CEO of WWF-Australia. “In addition, dredging should be minimized and greater efforts made to improve water quality.”

If appropriate steps are not taken to reverse the reef’s decline, the area risks being listed as “in danger” by UNESCO. The status of port expansions and the Great Barrier Reef’s overall health could stir controversy at the June meeting of the World Heritage Committee in Bonn, Germany.

“We want Australian leaders to know the world is watching and expects the damaging practice of sea-dumping in World Heritage waters to be banned before the World Heritage Committee meets in June” said Mr O’Gorman. “Global pressure and attention can help tip the balance and bring the reef back towards recovery,” he said.

According to the WWF report, many prominent banks have backed away from financing coal terminals in the reef due to concerns over environmental impacts. WWF urges companies not to invest or participate in any project that could threaten the Great Barrier Reef or any other World Heritage Site.

“As we can see from the Great Barrier Reef, healthy ocean habitats can be engines for sensible economic growth that provide jobs and improve people’s wellbeing,” Lambertini said. “Responsible management of the ocean, which is essential to preserve the crucial role marine ecosystems play in providing food and jobs for billions, should be a key feature of any roadmap for a sustainable future.”

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Australia Failing to Protect Great Barrier Reef, Report Says
Report Commissioned By WWF Finds Dumping From Port Developments Having Damaging Effects
REBECCA THURLOW Wall Street Journal 8 Feb 15;

Australia has fallen short in its efforts to protect the Great Barrier Reef from the damaging effects of port developments, a report commissioned by an environmental group has found, leaving the nation at risk of having one of its top tourist attractions placed on the United Nations’ list of endangered heritage sites this year.

The Great Barrier Reef is a network of about 3000 reefs and 900 coral islands along Australia’s northeast coast that attracts about 2 million visitors each year, and sustains tens of thousands of jobs. The reef has lost half its coral cover over the past 30 years, according to the Australian Institute of Marine Science, and is under threat from rising sea temperatures, water pollution and coastal development.

Australia’s conservative government said recently it would ban the dumping of dredge spoil in the marine park after the U.N’s World Heritage Committee expressed concern over plans to dispose up to 3 million cubic meters of mud and rock into the surrounding ocean as part of work to expand the Abbot Point coal port, adjacent the reef in northern Queensland state.

“The Great Barrier Reef Under Threat” report, written by Dalberg Global Development Advisors, said the ban won’t fix the problem because the 344,000-square-kilometer (138,000-square-mile) marine park, which is slightly smaller than the World Heritage Site, doesn’t include most of the islands and waters around the ports where most of the dumping has occurred to date.

The World Heritage Site covers a broader area than the marine park, so it captures more of the water ways and islands that surround the reef and are important for the reef’s health. The World Heritage Site, which covers 348,000 square kilometers, is defined by the World Heritage Committee and the marine park is created by Australia.

The ban “will have little impact on current dumping levels, and will provide very little additional protection to the Great Barrier Reef,” said the report, which was commissioned by the World Wide Fund for Nature.

One of the planet’s most diverse ocean habitats, the Great Barrier Reef hosts 400 types of coral, 1,500 types of fish, rare snubfin dolphins and a variety of turtle species under threat of extinction. The World Heritage Committee has warned it might put the reef on its list of at-risk sites at its June meeting if Australia hasn’t done enough to protect the fragile ecosystem.

WWF is calling for the Australian government to ban the dumping of dredge waste inside the entire World Heritage Site.

The government last week defended its stewardship of the reef in an urgent effort to keep it off the endangered list, arguing that it is the best managed marine ecosystem in the world and authorities are taking strong action to address the threats to its survival.

Australia isn’t legally bound to heed the U.N.’s warnings or act on the report’s criticism, but the World Heritage Committee could revoke the reef’s highly prized World Heritage status, which would be an embarrassment for Australia and could have a detrimental impact on tourism.

The Dalberg report found up to 51 million cubic meters of seabed material could be dredged for the planned construction and expansion of several ports along the reef—enough to fill New York City’s Empire State Building 49 times over.

Plumes of sediment caused by dredging and the dumping of material dug from the sea floor can smother corals and sea grass beds, which in turn affects marine wildlife that depend on them for food, the Dalberg report said.

WWF in push to expand Great Barrier Reef protection
onali Paul PlanetArk 10 Feb 15;

Conservation group WWF is stepping up pressure on Australia to do more to protect the Great Barrier Reef, launching a global campaign ahead of a vote by UNESCO on whether to put the world's largest coral reef on an "in danger" list.

UNESCO, which has given the reef a World Heritage listing, is due to decide in June whether to designate it as "in danger", which could lead to restrictions on shipping and port expansions that could hit Australia's trade in commodities and energy.

The WWF wants the government and state of Queensland to ban all dumping of sand dug up for port expansions anywhere near the reef, which is one of Australia's main tourist attractions and runs 2,300 km (1,450 miles) along its east coast.

"These places need to be protected and not used as an industrial dumping ground," WWF-Australia Chief Executive Dermot O'Gorman told Reuters.

The national government has already moved to ban all dumping of dredge spoil within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, which covers a slightly smaller area than the World Heritage listed area.

But the WWF, which is the official name for the World Wide Fund for Nature, said most port dredging was outside the marine park zone.

"To be successful turning around the decline of the reef you need to see a ban across the whole World Heritage area," O'Gorman said after releasing a report titled "The Great Barrier Reef Under Threat".

The campaign is being designated a priority across the WWF's 80 offices around the world.

Environment Minister Greg Hunt criticized the report as misleading, saying even with the ban on the disposal of dredge material in the reef marine park the government was focused on protecting the reef and would work with organizations like the WWF to do so.

"It's disappointing that WWF's report is so inaccurate and out of date and has the potential to mislead the international community," Hunt's spokesman, John O'Doherty, said in an email.

(Editing by Robert Birsel)