The Federal Government's decision to approve the expansion of a coal terminal near the Great Barrier Reef off Queensland has come under fire from members of the United Nations' World Heritage Committee.

The Committee has convened in Doha, Qatar to assess the conservation states of World Heritage Listed sites around the world.

The UN committee deferred a decision on whether to list the Great Barrier Reef as "in danger" until next year.

But many countries flagged serious concerns with the decision to approve the expansion of the Abbot Point coal terminal near Bowen in north Queensland.

The terminal's expansion would involve the dumping of three million cubic tonnes of dredge spoil in the marine park area, around 20 kilometres from the reef.

"We acknowledge with concerns the range of threats facing this exceptional example of [Outstanding Universal Value]," the Jamaican delegation said.

"Based purely on the evidence referenced by the experts, it is clear that the integrity of the site is at risk.

"We would wish to encourage the State Party [Australia] to urgently review its recent decisions regarding development projects."

The Portuguese delegation also raised concerns.

"The major cause for the reef degradation is not only a consequence of extreme weather conditions and climate change as Australian Government documents seem to imply, but also due to human causes and interference," José Filipe Mendes Moraes Cabral of the Portugese delegation said.

"We are concerned that not only Canberra is handing over environmental approval powers to the Queensland State Government on a matter of such high national and international relevance, but also other measures that have been taken that can deteriorate the health of the reef even more.

"I am referring to the four major developments within the site at Abbot Point and the Port of Gladstone relating to coal terminals, natural gas facilities and pipelines, as this involves the dumping of enormous quantities of dredge material at the site."

The committee's final decision said it "regrets" the decision to approve the dumping of the dredge material in the Marine Park Area "prior to having undertaken a comprehensive assessment of alternative and potentially less impacting development and disposal options".

The ABC revealed that the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority last year believed the dumping proposal should be refused.

At the World Heritage Committee meeting in Doha, the Australian delegation said it was just "sand and silt" and that it rejected suggestions the assessment process was inadequate.

"The suggestion that Australia has not undertaken a complete and comprehensive environmental impact assessment process is factually incorrect," the delegation said.

Queensland's Environment Minister Andrew Powell travelled to Doha to try and convince UNESCO the reef is not in danger.

"We've delivered nearly everything that UNESCO has asked of us, and by next year we'll have done that," he said.

The Malaysian delegation attempted to water down some of the proposals relating to the dredge spoil dumping, but the amendments were overwhelmingly rejected.

The draft decision was eventually accepted unchanged, giving the Queensland and Federal Governments another year to show that progress is being made on the reef.

Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt said he was pleased the Committee did not list the reef "in danger" and that it recognised the steps the Federal and Queensland governments were taking to protect the reef.

"Protection of this vast and priceless ecosystem is an ongoing challenge but we are confident that we have the processes, resources and environmental protection mechanisms in place to ensure that the Great Barrier Reef continues to be among the best managed and protected world heritage areas in the world," he said in a statement.

"The Australian and Queensland governments are jointly investing approximately $180 million annually in the reef's health - UNESCO recognises these efforts are starting to show results."

A report card released by the State Government earlier this month showed improvements in water quality, with land management practices resulting in a 28 per cent decline in pesticide run-off.

It also showed a drop in sediment run-off, a factor that is widely associated with one of the reef's biggest threats - the crown-of-thorns starfish.

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