http:\/\/news.sciencemag.org\/asiapacific\/2015\/06\/great-barrier-reef-keeps-world-heritage-site-status?utm_campaign=email-news-latest&utm_src=email<\/p>\n
ScienceInsider–Breaking news and analysis from the world of science policy <\/p>\n
By Leigh Dayton 1 June 2015 11:00 am 2 Comments <\/p>\n
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA\u2014A threat by a key U.N. agency to list Australia\u2019s Great Barrier Reef (GBR) as \u201cin danger\u201d has been averted\u2014for now. A draft decision announced on 29 May by a working group of the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture’s World Heritage Committee allows the GBR to keep its current World Heritage Area status but requires Australia to report on progress to safeguard the iconic reef from further decline by 1 December 2016. If \u201canticipated progress\u201d is not demonstrated, an \u201cin danger\u201d listing will be reconsidered in 2017. Australia will also have to report in 2020 on whether the nation\u2019s Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan is meeting its targets.<\/p>\n
Demonstrating progress by the end of next year is \u201ca real challenge given the enormity of the reef and the short time-line,\u201d says Terry Hughes, director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies in Townsville. He is critical of the Reef 2050 plan. When it was released in March, he told ScienceInsider it \u201cvirtually ignores climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n
The World Heritage Committee working group \u201cnotes with concern\u201d that the overall outlook for the reef is \u201cpoor,\u201d and that climate change, poor water quality, and impacts from coastal development are major threats to its health and have been degrading key habitats, species, and ecosystem processes in the central and southern inshore areas.<\/p>\n
The draft decision will be approved\u2014or amended\u2014by the full committee when it meets in Bonn, Germany, later this month. The Australian government lobbied hard to avoid an embarrassing \u201cin danger\u201d listing\u2014spending an estimated AU$76,500 visiting the committee\u2019s 21 delegations in their home countries. That is no guarantee members will accept the draft or the government\u2019s assurances. In recent years, the committee has often amended draft decisions.<\/p>\n
Scientists and environmental groups remain skeptical about governmental promises. They argue that the government\u2019s pledge of AU$1.53 billion over 10 years is insufficient to meet its planned targets, and point to state and federal support for development of a complex of coal mines in central Queensland, including the world\u2019s largest thermal coal project. Hughes notes that the \u201cunprecedented expansion\u201d of mines and ports will see the number of coal ships crossing the GBR grow from 1600 in 2012 to more than 4000 by 2020. Greenpeace says the draft decision should not be viewed as a reprieve, calling it in a statement \u201ca big red flag.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
http:\/\/news.sciencemag.org\/asiapacific\/2015\/06\/great-barrier-reef-keeps-world-heritage-site-status?utm_campaign=email-news-latest&utm_src=email ScienceInsider–Breaking news and analysis from the world of science policy By Leigh Dayton 1 June 2015 11:00 am 2 Comments SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA\u2014A threat by a key U.N. agency to list Australia\u2019s Great Barrier Reef (GBR) as \u201cin danger\u201d has been averted\u2014for now. A draft decision announced on 29 May by a working group of … Continue reading AAAS: Great Barrier Reef keeps World Heritage Site Status<\/span>