Billionaire businessman Sir Richard Branson is backing away from his call for the United Nations' World Heritage Committee to include the Great Barrier Reef on its in-danger list.

The committee will decide in June whether to place the Great Barrier Reef on the in-danger list.

In a blog post on the Virgin website late last week, Sir Richard described the reef's plight as "unbearably sad", saying it was being turned into an "industrial dumping ground" and under "severe threat".

He had lent his name to a campaign by the advocacy group 1MillionWomen, which wants the reef's status downgraded to protect it from threats posed primarily by climate change.

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But in the face of political criticism, he was now declining to comment on the matter, saying he had been unaware of the Australian Government's efforts to protect the reef.

Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt said he would speak to Sir Richard on Monday night to highlight "the incorrect claims being made by green groups".

Sir Richard 'trashing' reef's reputation

One of Sir Richard's fiercest critics was the mining lobby group the Queensland Resources Council (QRC).

QRC chief Michael Roche accused Sir Richard of "trashing" the reef's reputation.

"This is a very shabby intervention by a very rich businessman who makes a lot of money out of the Queensland economy and then has turned on the Queensland economy and set us up for a very bad outcome from the World Heritage Committee," he said.

Mr Roche said he would make his displeasure known to Virgin Australia, which was a member of QRC.

"I'd love to think that Mr Branson would actually get across the facts," he said.

"He talks about the industrialisation of the reef, and that the reef is becoming an industrial dumping ground.

"It doesn't seem like he could be bothered getting himself briefed on the government ban on the disposing of dredge material at sea.

"He couldn't be bothered getting himself briefed on the restrictions on port development in Queensland.

"He couldn't be bothered getting himself briefed on the $2 billion investment by the Australian and Queensland governments [over a decade] in protecting and preserving the reef."

Highly politicised topic, critics often attacked

But Greenpeace spokeswoman Jess Panegyres said Sir Richard was being targeted for delving into a highly politicised topic.

"I think it's consistent with a lot of debate about the Great Barrier Reef where critics of the Australian Government's approach are often attacked, rather than all of us working together to protect the reef which, after all, is what matters most," she said.

"That $2 billion is largely business-as-usual funding. The issue is that scientists have said that you can either have a healthy reef or you can have coal port expansion, and under the current plan coal port expansion is still possible and will still be going ahead."

Meanwhile, the group Sir Richard lent his name to said it hoped to speak to him soon to ensure his continued support of its campaign.

1MillionWomen's director Natalie Isaacs said she was surprised by the fallout.

"The oceans are dear to his heart and so is the Great Barrier Reef, so we thought that it'd be fantastic if he could help us get profile by wearing one our T-shirts and making a blog about it," she said.

"It's a very big political issue but we're just trying to rise above this.

"We are trying to say, for its protection, it needs to be put on the danger list, and for its protection we as a country need to focus on strong targets to cut carbon emissions and anything else is really just skirting around the edges."

In March, the federal and Queensland governments released a long-term plan for the Great Barrier Reef.

The Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan satisfied one of the key recommendations made by the World Heritage Committee and formed a key plank in the governments' bid to avoid the site being declared in danger by UNESCO.

Previously, a draft version of the report was criticised by some scientists as being a plan for sustainable development rather than protecting and conserving the reef.

The Queensland Government also sought urgent changes to that draft to include its $100 million election commitment to improve water quality.