Time running out for ‘irreplaceable’ $95b reef
Economic studies estimate that the Great Barrier Reef is worth $95 billion and contributes $9 billion a year to the country, but warns the valuable asset will be lost unless urgent action is taken.
A separate study shows that rampant deforestation in Queensland has destroyed hundreds of thousands of hectares of native bushland.
A Deloitte Access Economics report published on Monday found the reef supports 77,000 full-time jobs, making it the equivalent of Australia’s fifth largest employer.
National polling commissioned by the Great Barrier Reef Foundation shows 98 per cent of Australians believe losing the reef would be a national tragedy, with almost three-quarters describing such a loss as “significant” or “irreplaceable”.
The trust’s chief executive, Anna Marsden, said the Deloitte findings and the national survey “provide a powerful case”.
“Protecting the reef is vital not only for the people and communities who rely on its survival, but also for the overwhelming majority of Australians who want it to last for generations,” he said.
“The reef is not gone, but time is running out.
“We have the tools, the knowledge and the options to protect this. We just need the will.”
In early October, the Global Tipping Points report warned that warm-water coral reefs face long-term decline barring a rapid and unexpected cut in greenhouse gases.
Another report published on Monday found nearly 700,000 hectares of native bush had been cleared in the four years after the Queensland government strengthened vegetation laws in 2018.
The Australian Marine Conservation Society said the federal government had the opportunity to halt this clearing as part of reforms to the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, which are due to be introduced to parliament within the next two weeks.
The association is calling on the federal and Queensland governments to close gaps in deforestation through natural law reforms, repeal or restrict Section 43B of the Act and ensure national standards protect reefs from pollution and climate change.
Lissa Schindler, the association’s reef campaign manager, said Australia was a deforestation hotspot and Queensland was the epicentre.
“If Australia wants to remove the Reef from the World Heritage in Danger list, then the government needs to take action and close the loopholes that lead to deforestation,” Dr Schindler said.
More than 100 Australian scientists and researchers have also called on the government to address deforestation, warning that impacts under the current CT will “amplify the damage caused by repeated mass bleaching events caused by climate change” on reefs.
“Without meaningful reform, deforestation will continue to cause major biodiversity loss,” scientists warned in their letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
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