We’ve been hearing a lot lately about the state of the Great Barrier Reef and the major threat it faces. Sometimes it feels overwhelming – reefs are dying and it seems nothing can be done.
Actually there is much that can be done, from the Australian government really putting our money where its mouth is, to understanding that science must be at the basis of all action.
Here I outline five things that need to be done right now to save the Great Barrier Reef:
A huge increase in funding - all pledges so far are inadequate
Inshore reefs of the central Great Barrier Reef have suffered dramatically from fertiliser and pesticide run-off and from high sediment loads caused by land clearing. A major challenge is to dramatically improve water quality in reefs adjacent to this land.
But it’s not going to be cheap, with one recent estimate recommending a $10bn effort spread over 10 years to make any real difference (though new estimates of the real worth of the GBR makes this look like a worthwhile investment).
This makes the prime minister’s commitment of $1bn over ten years (subtracted from the budget of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation) and opposition leader Shorten’s $500m over five years grossly inadequate for what really needs to be done to improve the resilience of the Great Barrier Reef.
If we are really serious about saving the Great Barrier Reef, the first thing we are going to have to do is to put our money where our mouth is and dramatically increase funding to restore the GBR.
A moratorium on coal
It is beyond question now that the three greatest threats to coral reefs worldwide are overfishing, pollution, and climate change. For the first two, there are tangible ways to affect positive outcomes by management of coastal zones, and through fisheries management.
But many scientists believe that even with these “local” efforts, and the observation that healthy ecosystems are better equipped to deal with thermal stress than disturbed ones, global climate change can quickly overwhelm even the best managed reefs. Part of any strategy to save coral reefs is to cut greenhouse gas emissions and to do it now. The COP21 conference agreement in Paris late last year provided a glimmer of hope by recognising that limiting global warming to 1.5C represents our best hope at maintaining ecosystems.
Australia has a special responsibility to cut emissions as the 2016 and earlier bleaching events illustrate that global warming has already had a huge negative effect on the Great Barrier Reef. But we also have a unique opportunity to play a global leading role by keeping coal in the ground and refusing foreign investors to develop what will amount to substantial increases in global CO2 gas emissions.
So the second thing Australia needs to do is to place a moratorium on coal – greenhouse gases need to be cut now, and Australia can play a vital role.
Rebuild an independent GBR Marine Park Authority
The third thing we can do is prioritise the management of the Great Barrier Reef by rebuilding the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, whose funding and “authority” have dramatically declined over the past several years.
Budget cuts, staff layoffs, and the ceding of governance responsibility to state agencies keen on the economic benefits of coal extraction is not in the best interest of the reef and may undercut the reputation Australia has had for “best practice” in coral reef management.
A strong and independent marine park authority is in the best interest of everyone who has a stake in the reef. Of particular urgency is stronger management links across the land and the sea.
Boost science as the basis for all decision-making
The fourth thing we can do is to support the link between science and government. Now more than ever science needs to underpin decision-making in all facets of society.
No one person or segment of society can claim to be totally free of bias and self-interest, and scientists are no exception. However, the checks and balances within the scientific community are stringent and tend to weed out ideas that are not based on rigorous evaluation and testing of competing hypotheses.
Government provides funding for this process in the way of scientific research into societal concerns, such as economic or environmental. The outcomes of that research are made freely available and should provide the basis for decision-making.
Resist news fatigue and remember how serious this is
Finally, one of the most difficult challenges we all face is news fatigue. We seem to be constantly bombarded with bad news whether it be economic issues, terrorism or environmental crises.
In time our focus shifts, as does our “baseline”, toward accepting the world as it is, instead of as it should be. In 2012 we learned that live coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef had decreased by 50% over the past 27 years. Shocking news. Now we are told that, again, over the entire Great Barrier Reef almost 25% has been lost over the span of a few weeks during the 2016 bleaching event.
Reactions to this range from, “oh well, the reef survived 50% decline and so it should survive 25% decline – what’s the fuss?” to “the tourism industry should pack up and go home – there’s nothing left to see”. Both of these points of view have been raised with me by the media. And they are both understandable given the bad news coming out of the reef lately. But they are both grossly misguided and represent the exact opposite of how we should be thinking about the problem.
Nothing happens politically without constant communication and education about issues. For the Great Barrier reef, it is imperative that we fight through our initial reactions to the recent spate of bad news and begin to tackle the problems confronting the reef at multiple levels.
So the urgent thing for all of us to do is to set aside our “news fatigue” and help convince our government about the gravity of the challenges facing the reef and to implement the recommendations I have outlined above. The coming general election provides an excellent starting point to begin this dialogue.
