Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to be Destroyed?

Green News: Coal Industry and Govt Happy to Ruin Reef

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is a Natural Wonder of the World and a World Heritage Site. It’s even visible from space. It attracts over a million tourists each year, and is home to thousands of species of fish and other marine animals, many of which are unique to the area.

Unfortunately, it also happens to be where the world’s largest coal port will be built.

The coal export facility has been approved by Australia’s Conservative Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Since gaining office he has been a vociferous climate-change denier and has implemented multiple policies which are good for big business and profits, and bad for the environment.

This latest project will see massive dredging operations dump millions of tons of mud and sand (dredge spoil) into the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, and then create a coal-shipping superhighway through the reef so thousands of ships each year can ferry coal from Australia to Asia. An increase in shipping traffic close to the Reef will lead to an increase in accidents.

What’s the motive for this destruction? Of course, you’ve guessed it. Money.  Abbott seems determined to turn Australia into a state that solely represents the interests of fossil fuel and coal companies. The coal industry contributes more than $20 billion a year to the government’s coffers, and local businesses will benefit from the new development too.

Just around the corner from the port is the nesting place for endangered turtles which nest only in northern Australia. They have the smallest migratory range of any marine turtle, so when their home in Queensland is destroyed, they’ve got nowhere else to go. The area is also home to dugongs or “sea cows”, already close to extinction – they are one of the reasons that the Reef has World Heritage listing. 

The reefs and the life they support are already under stress from ocean acidification and warming, in addition to current levels of dredging sediment, which is easily disturbed by severe weather – and the area is prone to cyclones and flooding.

The Great Barrier Reef generated around 69,000 full-time equivalent jobs, and generated almost $6 billion in 2011/12, according to recent research. Most of this is through tourism and reef-dependent industries like fishing.

There is hope that he Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority will abide by its charter and block the government’s approval of the Abbot Point expansion. A decision is expected soon. The local tourism authority is also objecting. Let’s hope it’s enough to stop the development.

Because as if all of this weren’t bad enough, funnelling these vast quantities of coal (more than six times current rates) will push Australia’s CO2 emissions sky high and affect climate change all over the world.

But that won’t matter really. Because according to Abbott, climate change isn’t caused by humans at all.

If you’re concerned, please Share this post (buttons below) – thank you! You can also visit Fight for the Reef website, and if you’re on Twitter, use #SaveTheReef hashtag.