Australia pledges billions to save its Great Barrier Reef. Is it enough?
However, the reef is dying. Climate change, driven by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, is the biggest culprit with the reef going through five mass bleaching events in the past 25 years
On the 28th of January 2022, the Australian government pledged $1 billion of funding for the conservation of its iconic Great Barrier Reef, spread across nine years. This funding comes months after UN science advisors recommended the reef be placed on the world heritage ‘in-danger’ list- the first time this placing was made purely due to the impacts of climate change. The Australian government lobbied furtively to prevent the placing. In return, they had to send a ‘State of the Reef’ report and management plan to UNESCO, which was submitted on the 1st of February, and invited a UN ‘reactive monitoring’ mission to assess the health of the reef and decide its conservation status in July this year.
Stretching 2300 km across the north-east coastline of Australia, the Great Barrier Reef is our planet’s largest living structure and one of the most biodiverse habitats on the planet.
Close to 9000 marine species, including the world’s most crucial dugong populations and 6 of the 7 species of endangered marine turtle reside in the region. Each of the species, as well as the microbes, fungi and plankton, have a role to play in maintaining the rich, dynamic ecosystem.
However, the reef is dying. Climate change, driven by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, is the biggest culprit. In the past 25 years, the reef has seen five mass bleaching events- in 1998, 2002, 2016, 2017 and 2020- all driven by rising ocean temperatures. Additionally, the reef is threatened by fertiliser and pesticide run-off from agriculture, and outbreaks of coral-eating crown-of-thorns (COT) starfish, that flourish in nutrient-rich environments.
The federal government is confident that the new funding will work wonders towards protecting the reef, as outlined in its Reef 2050 plan. Painted as hugely beneficial for the approximate 64,000 jobs and the $6.4 billion in tourism revenue that the reef provides, the largest chunk of the funding, 579.9m will go to water quality projects. This includes erosion control, tackling damage to wetlands and working with Queensland’s farmers to reduce agricultural run-off. $252.9 million will be provided for reef management; specifically, the ‘culling’ of the COT starfish. Around 92.7m is for research and adaptation projects, such as the development of more heat-resistant corals, while, expectedly, the smallest proportion of the funding, 74.4m is to go towards community and Indigenous-led projects, such as habitat restoration and species protection.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, in the February 2022 State of Conservation report submitted to UNESCO claims that the Reef 2050 plan (which this funding is going towards) is “the most comprehensive program of corrective measures ever to be developed and implemented for a World heritage body”.
However, the government’s rhetoric and actions have been criticised by organisations such as the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) as being ‘high on spin’ but low on actual climate action- the root cause of the destruction of the reef.
Although the government has acknowledged the importance of climate change in its reef conservation policy, their plan, and this budget, is linked to its woefully inadequate climate policy. According to the government’s own modelling, the country’s greenhouse gas emissions plan will leave it 226m tonnes short of net zero by 2050, with a 35% reduction from 2005 levels by 2030. Even a 35% reduction will not be in line with keeping global heating below 2 degrees- which according to the latest climate science, is the maximum survival threshold for the reef. With the reef currently sitting on the brink of another bleaching event due to record high temperatures in December 2021, this could spell bad news.
It could also be argued that this funding, and the Reef 2050 plan, does not adequately address the impacts of a degraded reef on the Indigenous peoples of Australia. The Great Barrier Reef region is home to over 70 Indigenous groups, who have deep cultural and historic connection and still use and value their marine estates through cultural activities, environmental management and protection. And they are amongst the first to be impacted by climate change, a warming ocean and associated biodiversity loss.
Indigenous peoples want greater recognition for their aspirations for their Sea Country, negotiated levels of control and management of the region, and the ability to protect their culture through education, sustainable resource use and on-country engagement.
This could have huge positive implications for the reef’s survival. After all, Indigenous-owned and managed country contains some of the most biodiverse and ecologically intact ecosystems in the world.
However, although the government has pledged to develop partnerships with Indigenous land and sea organisations and groups in the region, existing funding is minimal. Predominantly expressed through Indigenous ranger initiatives and often unequally balanced co-management structures, it is arguably not going to be enough. Like climate policy, the politics of decisions around power make it very difficult to implement. What consequences this has for the Great Barrier Reef we can only wait and see.
