Great Barrier Reef not great example
UNESCO has given Australia a deadline of February 2013 to report substantial progress in order to avoid having the Great Barrier Reef listed as World Heritage in danger. Image: ICRS 2012 At the International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS) in Cairns on Monday 9 July, James Cook University researcher Jon Brodie has argued for management of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) to focus on three key threats: terrestrial pollution, fishing and climate change.“The Great Barrier Reef is often lauded as the best-managed reef in the world, and it probably still is,” Mr Brodie said.“What we need to remember is that the bar for reef management is relatively low. Most coral reefs are managed by nations that have significantly fewer resources to devote to their care.”A recent report by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) highlighted the decline of Australia’s once-great reef, which now has just half the coral cover it boasted...