The Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef(GBR) stretches 2 300km from the Torres Strait to just north of Bundaberg. It covers an area of 345 000km2 and is comprised of nearly three thousand reefs and more than nine hundred islands and cays. The GBR, listed under all four natural World Heritage criteria for its outstanding universal value, is home to fifteen hundred fish species, nearly two hundred different bird species and more than thirty marine mammals. Further, over three hundred types of hard coral and one third of all the world’s soft coral occur in the GBR. Six turtle species occur in the GBR, all listed as endangered, and they share the shallow seagrass bed feeding areas with that most gentle of marine creatures, the dugong. Coral reefs are richly biodiverse and many are now under serious threat due largely to the impacts of human activities.

Key Threatening Processes

The major threats to the GBR include over-fishing, land-based pollution and global warming (including Ocean Acidification). Agricultural activities including sugar cane farming and cattle grazing, increasing industrial and urban coastal development, increased tourism activity and the loss of natural filtering systems of wetlands and mangroves have all led to an increase in sediment and chemical residues entering the waters of the GBR. These issues are further compounded by inadequate environmental planning regulations for the coastal areas of Queensland.

Ocean Acidification Explained

Globally renowned coral scientist Dr John "Charlie" Owens describes the grave threat faced by the world's corals due to ocean acidification resulting from increased atmospheric Carbon Dioxide. Ocean Acidication