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Great Barrier Reef Gets $379 Million Boost After Coral Dies Off (bloomberg.com)

Posted by msmash on from the moving-forward dept.

The Great Barrier Reef is being given a $379 million boost by Australia in the battle to save the world's largest living structure as it faces mounting challenges such as climate change, agricultural runoff and a coral-eating starfish. From a report: "Like reefs all over the world, the Great Barrier Reef is under pressure," Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in a statement on Sunday, calling the funding the largest granted to the famous tourist icon. "A big challenge demands a big investment -- and this investment gives our reef the best chance." [...] The new funding comes after Deloitte Access Economics valued the reef last year at A$56 billion, based on an asset supporting tens of thousands of jobs and which contributes A$6.4 billion a year to the economy. Still, that was before a study released this month in Nature showed about 30 percent of the reef, which is bigger than Japan, died off in 2016 during an extended marine heatwave.

2 of 104 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Horrendous headline by manu0601 · · Score: 4, Informative

    "$379 million boost" doesn't mean anything by itself.

    TFA actually lists projects that get funded.

    • A$201 million to improve water quality through reducing fertilizer use and adapting new technologies and land management practices
    • A$100 million for science research to restore the reef and boost its resilience
    • A$58 million to fight the coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish
    • A$45 million for sea country management, coastal clean-up days and to raise awareness
    • A$40 million to enhance reef health monitoring
  2. Re:Horrendous headline by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Informative

    Is fertilizers even the problem here?

    Algae blooms block sunlight and when they die, sink, and rot, deeper layers are deprived of oxygen. Coral reefs are very sensitive to water quality.

    What does land management have to do with the ocean?

    A lot. Erosion and runoff carry silt, phosphates, and iron into the ocean.

    Isn't this just feel-good stuff?

    Getting local people involved and changing attitudes can make a big difference.

    Also, no mention of global warming?

    Get a grip. AGW is an enormous global problem that will take generations to fix. That is not something that Australia can do on their own, and certainly not with $379M.