Federal and Queensland government proposal to improve water quality ‘little more than business as usual’, say environmentalists

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

A plan to improve the Great Barrier Reef’s water quality and conserve species such as turtles may not be enough to stave off a United Nations “in danger” listing for the ecosystem, environmentalists have warned.

The draft Reef 2050 long-term sustainability plan, a joint strategy by the federal and Queensland governments, has been released in an attempt to satisfy Unesco, which has warned it may place the reef on its list of threatened sites in 2015.

Port developers, the agriculture industry and environment groups helped draft the plan.

The plan stipulates a 50% reduction in nitrogen and a 60% drop in pesticides flowing on to the reef by 2018. There is also a protection plan for dugongs and turtles and a commitment to prioritise “functional ecosystems critical to reef health”.

On the contentious issue of dredging the seabed and dumping it within the Great Barrier Reef’s waters, there is a commitment to prohibit dredging within the world heritage area for new ports for the next 10 years as well as a “code of practice” for dredging.

However, there is no explicit ban on dumping spoil from existing dredging projects into the reef’s marine park.

Nor is there any new funding for any activities mentioned in the plan, beyond the $40m Reef Trust announced in the federal budget, which is aimed at improving water quality and curbing an outbreak of crown-of-thorns starfish, which are munching through a large area of the reef’s coral.

The Great Barrier Reef marine park authority’s recent analysis warned the reef’s outlook is “poor, has worsened since 2009 and is expected to further deteriorate in the future”.

The report said climate change was the leading long-term threat. A number of huge Queensland mining projects are under way, with the fossil fuels to be exported via the Abbot Point port, near Bowen.

The federal government has approved a plan to dump 5m tonnes of dredged seabed sediment within the reef’s marine park, to allow for the expansion of Abbot Point. Unesco has voiced concern about the plan, and documents have shown marine park authority scientists warned against the dumping but were overruled.

Last week the Queensland government revealed an alternative land-based disposal plan amid concerns that the spoil would smother coral and harm water quality.

Greg Hunt, the federal environment minister, said the draft plan showed that the commonwealth and Queensland governments were committed to improving the reef.

“The plan sets out targets and actions to help safeguard the reef against threats such as poor water quality and crown-of-thorns starfish; improve its resilience to challenges like storms and cyclones; and conserve species such as turtles and dugongs while supporting existing sustainable activities including tourism, agriculture, shipping, fishing and more,” he said.

“Maintaining and protecting this iconic world heritage area, while considering the needs for long-term sustainable development, is a critical priority.”

But Richard Leck, a reef campaigner at WWF, said the plan was “little more than business as usual”.

“What the scientists are clearly saying is that the reef needs an awful lot more than this,” Leck told Guardian Australia. “It needs transformation in its management.

“We want a complete ban on dumping dredged spoil in the world heritage area. The government may intend to do this, but intentions can change quickly without legislation, as we saw last week.

“There is no outline to pay for the types of action needed to save the reef. A lot of plans and strategies have been given to the world heritage committee but I think they are looking for action and there are no dollars in this plan.

“There are some positives but this plan doesn’t go far enough and I don’t think the Australian and Queensland governments are out of the woods yet when it comes to the ‘in danger’ listing.”

The Greens said the plan was full of “vague targets” that did not address the threats facing the reef.

“Queenslanders won’t be fooled – this plan does nothing to stop the onslaught of dredging and dumping already applied for in our Great Barrier Reef,” said Greens senator Larissa Waters.

“The plan ignores the fact that exporting millions of tonnes of coal out through the reef will exacerbate climate change, the biggest threat facing this iconic world heritage area.”

According to the Australian Institute of Marine Science, the reef has lost about half of its coral cover in the past 30 years. Coral-eating starfish, cyclones and pollution runoff from land have eroded the ecosystem. The coral is also at growing risk of dying off from warming oceans.