Resources
The Guardian
15 August 2013
Dredging could be more harmful to the Great Barrier Reef than previously thought, a government-commissioned report has found, amid fresh warnings over the impact of coastal industrialisation on sea turtles and dugongs.
The WWF claimed the report proved that the dredging and dumping of seabed sediment near the reef should be banned. Read more
The Guardian
08 October 2013
American environmental groups have escalated a lawsuit against the US government which aims to prevent it funding two "deadly" gas facilities beside the Great Barrier Reef.
The three groups have filed a challenge to the funding of a second facility, which is being backed by the US Export-Import Bank, to add to an original lawsuit that was launched in December last year. Read more
ABC News
31 January 2014
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority has approved a proposal to dump dredge spoil from the Abbot Point coal terminal expansion in the Marine Park area.
Three million cubic metres of spoil must be dredged as part of the project at Bowen in North Queensland green-lighted by Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt last month. Read more
Environmental Research Web
13 June 2013
Researchers in Australia who have carried out a risk assessment of the governance systems for the Great Barrier Reef say urgent action is needed to improve key aspects of the way the reef is managed.
"The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has recently expressed concern about the governance of the reef," said Allan Dale from the Cairns Institute of James Cook University. Read more
The Conversation
16 July 2013
Last week, the Australian and Queensland governments released a reef report card which found the overall condition of the reef in 2010-2011 was “poor”. This was compared to its “moderate” condition in 2009.
Poor water quality, caused by run-off from farms and grazing properties, has long had detrimental effects on the Great Barrier Reef’s health. Given that voluntary water quality initiatives have failed, it’s time to seriously consider tougher measures. Read more
Cairns Post
10 November 2014
A MARINE “lost world” has been found in the Torres Strait with dozens of coral species never before identified in the region, including some new to Australian waters.
Scientists have released findings from extensive biodiversity surveys carried out near Mer (Murray), Erub (Darnley) and Masig (Yorke) islands all northeast of Cape York over the past three years. Read more
The Guardian
12 February 2015
The survival chances of crown-of-thorns starfish increase by as much as 240% if sea-surface temperatures rise 2C, say Australian researchers.
Warmer seas are creating an additional threat to the Great Barrier Reef, with new research suggesting rising temperatures are helping a key coral predator thrive. Read more
The Age
02 October 2012
Half the Great Barrier Reef's coral has disappeared in the past 27 years and less than a quarter could be left within a decade unless action is taken, a landmark study has found.
A long-term investigation of the reef by scientists at Townsville's Australian Institute of Marine Science found coral had been wiped out by intense tropical cyclones, a native species of starfish and coral bleaching. Read more
The Sydney Morning Herald
02 October 2012
Half the Great Barrier Reef's coral has disappeared in the past 27 years and less than a quarter could be left within a decade unless action is taken, a landmark study has found.
A long-term investigation of the reef by scientists at Townsville's Australian Institute of Marine Science found coral had been wiped out by intense tropical cyclones, a native species of starfish and coral bleaching. Read more
PS News
03 December 2013
Surveys conducted during this year’s turtle nesting season are expected to show if the population of green turtles is bouncing back nearly three years after cyclone Yasi destroyed much of their food supply.
Species conservation manager at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Mark Read said November and December marked the peak period in the Great Barrier Reef when female turtles lay their eggs on a beach in the region where they were born. Read more
