Ethical socialism can be traced back to the utopian socialists, especially Henri de Saint-Simon and Charles Fourier, but also anarchists such as the French socialist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon as well as Italian revolutionaries and socialists such as Giuseppe Garibaldi and Giuseppe Mazzini. Those utopian socialists, one of the first currents of modern socialist thought, presented visions and outlines for imaginary or futuristic ideal societies, characterized by the establishment of a moral economy, with positive ideals based on moral and ethical grounds being the main reason for moving society in such a direction. Before Marxists established a hegemony over definitions of socialism, the term socialism was a broad concept which referred to one or more of various theories aimed at solving the labour problem through radical changes in the capitalist economy. Descriptions of the problem, explanations of its causes and proposed solutions such as the abolition of private property or supporting cooperatives and public ownership varied among socialist philosophies.
Ethical socialism had a profound impact on the social democratic movement and reformism during the later half of the 20th century, particularly in Great Britain.
Ethical socialism is distinct in its focus on criticism of the ethics
of capitalism and not merely criticism of the economic, systemic, and
material issues of capitalism. When the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) renounced orthodox Marxism during the Godesberg Program in the 1950s, ethical socialism became the official philosophy within the SPD. The decision to abandon the traditional anti-capitalist policy angered many in the SPD who had supported it.
Some such as Ian Adams also argue that this was an abandonment of the
classical conception of socialism as involving the replacement of the
capitalist economic system and make a distinction between classical socialism and liberal socialism.
R. H. Tawney denounced self-seeking amoral and immoral behaviour that he claimed is supported by capitalism. Tawney opposed what he called the "acquisitive society" that causes private property to be used to transfer surplus profit to "functionless owners", i.e. capitalist rentiers. However, he did not denounce managers as a whole, believing that management and employees could join in a political alliance for reform. Tawney supported the pooling of surplus profit through means of progressive taxation to redistribute these funds to provide social welfare (including public health care, public education, and public housing) and the nationalization of strategic industries and services.
He supported worker participation in the business of management in the
economy as well as consumer, employee, employer and state cooperation in
regulating the economy.
Although Tawney supported a substantial role for public
enterprise in the economy, he stated that where private enterprise
provided a service that was commensurate with its rewards that was
functioning private property, then a business could be usefully and
legitimately be left in private hands. Thomas Hill Green supported the right of equal opportunity
for all individuals to be able freely appropriate property, but claimed
that acquisition of wealth did not imply that an individual could do
whatever they wanted to once that wealth was in their possession. Green opposed "property rights of the few" that were preventing the ownership of property by the many.
Ethical socialism was advocated and promoted by former British prime minister Tony Blair, who has been influenced by John Macmurray, himself influenced by Green. Blair has defined ethical socialism with similar notions promoted by earlier ethical socialists such as emphasis on the common good, rights, and responsibilities, and support of an organic society in which individuals flourish through cooperation. According to Blair, the Labour Party
ran into problems in the 1960s and 1970s when it abandoned ethical
socialism and believes that the party's recovery required a return to
the ethical socialist values last promoted by the Attlee government.
However, Blair's critics (both inside and outside Labour) have accused
him of completely abandoning socialism in favour of capitalism.
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest reef systems,
stretching along the East coast of Australia from the northern tip down
to the town of Bundaberg,
is composed of roughly 2,900 individual reefs and 940 islands and cays
that stretch for 2,300 kilometres (1,616 mi) and cover an area of
approximately 344,400 square kilometres (133,000 sq mi). The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland in northeast Australia. A large part of the reef is protected by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
According to the 2014 report of the Australian Government's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), says that climate change is the most significant environmental threat to the Great Barrier Reef,
while the other major environmental pressures are listed as decreased
water quality from land-based runoff, impacts from coastal development
and some persistent impacts from fishing activities. The reef is also
threatened by storms, coral bleaching and ocean acidification. The 2014 report also shows that, while numerous marine life species
have recovered after previous declines, the strength of the dugong population is continuing to decline. Terry Hughes, Federation Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University, wrote in a 14 August 2014 Conversation
piece that harmful government policies and ongoing conflicts of
interest over mining royalties are risks of an equivalent magnitude.
The GBRMPA consider climate change, poor water quality,
coastal development, and some impacts from fishing to be the area's
major threats, but reef scientists Jon Day, Bob Pressey, Jon Brodie and
Hughes stated that the "cumulative effects of many combined impacts" is
the real issue.
In a Conversation article, Mathieu Mongin, a biogeochemical modeller at CSIRO and colleagues mapped parts of the Great Barrier Reef
that are most exposed to ocean acidification. This map of pH on the
Great Barrier Reef presents the exposure to ocean acidification on each
of the 3,581 reefs, providing managers with the information they need to
tailor management to individual reefs. The Great Barrier Reef is not a
singular reef nor a physical barrier that prevents exchange between
reefs; it is a mixture of thousands of productive reefs and shallow
areas lying on a continental shelf with complex oceanic circulation.
History
In 1967, efforts began to conserve the Great Barrier Reef. It was
proposed to mine lime from Ellison Reef, but surveys showed that the
reef supported a diverse community of corals and fish.
The Australian and Queensland Governments committed to act in partnership in 2007 to protect the reef, and water quality monitoring programmes were implemented. However, the World Wildlife Fund
criticised the slow progress of the governments, raising a concern that
as many as 700 reefs continued to be at risk from sediment runoff.
The Australian government then outlined further action after the World Heritage Committee
(WHC) called for the completion of a strategic assessment of the Reef
area in 2011. The Committee also urged the government to use the
assessment data to develop a long-term plan for protecting the
"Outstanding Universal Value" of the reef, which is the basis for its
World Heritage listing. Again, criticisms emerged from the expert
community—due to vague quantitative targets, the absence of clear,
specific strategies, and no mention of the implications of climate
change—but the significant efforts of both state and federal governments
addressed key recommendations from the WHC.
A 2012 UNESCO report, published by the WHC, then criticised the
government's management of the Great Barrier Reef, warning that the area
could be downgraded to a world heritage site "in danger" unless major
changes were implemented. The report expressed "extreme concern" at the
rapid rate of coastal development, highlighting the construction of
liquefied natural gas plants at Gladstone and Curtis Island, and
recommended that thorough assessments are made before any new
developments that could affect the reef are approved. UNESCO specifically recommended no new port development in Abbot Point, Gladstone, Hay Point, Mackay, and Townsville.
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop informed the Australian media that she would use climate change talks, held in Lima, Peru, in December 2014, to avoid the WHC—consisting of experts from 20 nations—applying the "in danger" listing in 2015. Bishop believed that "no justification" existed for the downgrading:
It would send a message around the world that even if you meet all of
the criteria set out by the world heritage committee, there is still a
risk that they will place an area on the in-danger list ... It
[downgrading] would have significant implications for Australia but it
would also set a very dangerous precedent for countries who don’t have
the opportunity to take the action that Australia has.
To avoid the Great Barrier Reef being listed as "in danger", the
Queensland Government introduced the Ports Bill 2014 on 25 November
2014. The Bill seeks to restrict further port development along the
coast to Brisbane and four "Priority Port Development Areas", with the
latter including four ports identified by the WHC in its 2012 report.
The Bill also restricts dredging over a decade-long period, with the
exception of priority ports. Additionally, a long-term sustainability
plan and the expansion of water-quality activities were introduced by
state and federal governments, and their partner agencies.
However, in response to the Ports Bill, University of Queensland
(UQ) academics said on 19 December 2014 that, although the issues are
"not insurmountable", "the health of the reef is still declining and
consequently more needs to be done." Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) Great Barrier Reef campaign director Felicity Wishart was more damning and stated in a press release:
The new Ports Bill fails to rule out any currently proposed new
dredging, the dumping of dredge spoil in the Reef's waters and is silent
on maintenance dredging across the region. The millions of tonnes of
dredging and dumping for mega port developments that are in the pipeline
will be able to go ahead under the Bill. Despite the establishment of
four Priority Port Development Areas along the Reef (Townsville, Abbot
Point, Mackay/Hay Point and Gladstone), the Bill will still allow port
expansion in Cairns. This fails to meet the recommendation by the World
Heritage Committee that no new port developments be permitted outside of
the existing port areas. The Bill contains no protections for the most
northern section of the Reef or the Fitzroy Delta, and it does nothing
to improve water quality in Reef waters, all matters which the World
Heritage Committee wants action on.
UNESCO considers that the Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan has
been effective, noting that progress had been made to reduce
agricultural runoff sediments.
Water quality
Storage Silos on the Gladstone waterfront, an industrial area in the water catchment area
Water quality was first identified as a threat to the Great Barrier Reef in 1989.
Thirty "major rivers" and hundreds of small streams comprise the Great Barrier Reef catchment area, which covers 423,000 square kilometres (163,000 sq mi) of land. Queensland has several major urban centers on the coast including Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton and the industrial city of Gladstone. Dredging in the Port of Gladstone
is raising concern after dead and diseased fish where found in the
harbor. Cairns and Townsville are the largest of the coastal cities,
with populations of approximately 150,000 each.
There are many major water quality variables affecting coral reef health including water temperature, salinity, nutrients, suspended sediment concentrations, and pesticides.
The species in the Great Barrier Reef area are adapted to tolerable
variations in water quality however when critical thresholds are
exceeded they may be adversely impacted. River discharges are the single
biggest source of nutrients,
providing significant pollution of the Reef during tropical flood
events with over 90% of this pollution being sourced from farms. When the 2019 Townsville flood
waters reached the Great Barrier Reef, the flood plumes covered a large
area of corals, even reaching 60 km out to sea, however water quality
analysis showed damage to the outer reef from the flooding was less than
previously feared.
As of 1995, water visibility had decreased to 10 metres.
Due to the range of human uses made of the water catchment area adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef, some 700 of the 3,000 reefs are within a risk zone where water quality has declined due to the naturally acidic sediment and chemical runoff from farming. Coastal development and the loss of coastal wetlands—the latter acts as natural filter—are also major factors From mid 2012 to mid 2016, 596,000 hectares of forest in the catchment zone was cleared.
Industries in the water catchment area are cotton growing, comprising approximately 262 km2 (101 sq mi); 340 dairy farms with an average area of 2 km2 (0.77 sq mi) each, 158 km2 (61 sq mi) cattle grazing, 288 km2 (111 sq mi) horticulture including banana growing, sugarcane farming, and cropping of approximately 8,000 km2 (3,100 sq mi) wheat, 1,200 km2 (460 sq mi) barley, and 6,000 to 7000 km2 sorghum and maize.
Fertiliser use in the cotton, dairy, beef, horticulture and sugar
industries is essential to ensure productivity and profitability.
However, fertiliser and byproducts from sugar cane harvesting methods
form a component of surface runoff into the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.
The principal agricultural activity in the wet tropics is sugar cane
farming, while cattle grazing is the primary industry in the dry
tropics regions. Both are considered significant threats to high water
quality. Copper,
a common industrial pollutant in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef,
has been shown to interfere with the development of coral polyps.
Flood plumes are flooding events associated with higher levels of nitrogen and phosphorus. In February 2007, due to a monsoonal climate system, plumes of sediment runoff have been observed reaching to the out most regions of the reef.
Runoff is especially concerning in the region south of Cairns, as
it receives over 3,000 millimetres (120 in) of rain per year and the
reefs are less than 30 kilometres (19 mi) away from the coastline.
Farm run off is polluted as a result of overgrazing and excessive
fertilizer and pesticide use. Mud pollution has increased by 800% and
inorganic nitrogen pollution
by 3,000% since the introduction of European farming practices on the
Australian landscape. This pollution has been linked to a range of very
significant risks to the reef system, including intensified outbreaks of
the coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish which contributed to a loss of 66% of live coral cover on sampled reefs in 2000.
It is thought that the mechanism behind excess nutrients affecting the reefs is due to increased light and oxygen competition from algae,
but unless herbivory is unusually low, this will not create a phase
shift from the Great Barrier Reef being primarily made up of coral to
being primarily made up of algae.
It has been suggested that poor water quality due to excess nutrients encourages the spread of infectious diseases among corals. In general, the Great Barrier Reef is considered to have low incidences of coral diseases. Skeletal Eroding Band, a disease of bony corals caused by the protozoanHalofolliculina corallasia, affects 31 species of corals from six families on the reef.
The long-term monitoring program has found an increase in incidences of
coral disease in the period 1999–2002, although they dispute the claim
that on the Great Barrier Reef, coral diseases are caused by anthropogenic pollution.
Elevated nutrient concentrations result in a range of impacts on
coral communities and under extreme conditions can result in a collapse.
It also affects coral by promoting phytoplankton growth which increases the number of filter-feeding
organisms that compete for space. Excessive inputs of sediment from
land to coral can lead to reef destruction through burial, disruption of
recruitment success, or deleterious community shifts. Sediments affect
coral by smothering them when particles settle out, reducing light
availability and potentially reducing photosynthesis and growth. Coral
reefs exist in seawater salinities from 25 to 42%. Salinity impacts to
corals are increased by other flood-related stresses.
Pollution from mining
A protest against the Adani Carmichael mine, 2016
A freedom of information request by the Northern Queensland Conservation Council in 2014 showed that Queensland Nickel, owned by Australian politician Clive Palmer,
discharged nitrate-laden water into the Great Barrier Reef in 2009 and
2011—releasing 516 tonnes (508 long tons; 569 short tons) of toxic waste
water on the latter occasion. In June 2012, Queensland Nickel stated it
intended to release waste water, continuously for three months, "at
least 100 times the allowed maximum level as well as heavy metals and
other contaminants". A GBRMPA briefing stated the company had
"threatened a compensation claim of $6.4bn should the GBRMPA intend to
exert authority over the company's operations". In response to the
publicisation of the dumping incidents, the GBRMPA stated:
We have strongly encouraged the company to investigate options that do
not entail releasing the material to the environment and to develop a
management plan to eliminate this potential hazard; however, GBRMPA does
not have legislative control over how the Yabulu tailings dam is
managed.
Dumping
Following a tour of the Great Barrier Reef area by WHC members, a
2012 UNESCO report, which criticised management of the Great Barrier
Reef, specifically recommended no new port development outside the
established areas of Abbot Point, Gladstone, Hay Point/Mackay, and
Townsville. However, in December 2013, Greg Hunt, the Australian environment minister,
approved a plan for dredging to create three shipping terminals as part
of the construction of a coalport. According to corresponding approval
documents, the process will create around 3 million cubic metres of
dredged seabed that will be dumped within the Great Barrier Reef marine
park area.
Catchments along the Great Barrier Reef
On 31 January 2014, the GBRMPA issued a dumping permit that will allow three million cubic metres of sea bed from Abbot Point, north of Bowen,
to be transported and unloaded in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef
Marine Park. Potential significant harms have been identified in
relation to dredge spoil and the process of churning up the sea floor in
the area and exposing it to air: firstly, new research shows the finer
particles of dredge spoil can cloud the water and block sunlight,
thereby starving sea grass and coral up to distances of 80 km away from
the point of origin due to the actions of wind and currents.
Furthermore, dredge spoil can literally smother reef or sea grass to
death, while storms can repeatedly resuspend these particles so that the
harm caused is ongoing; secondly, disturbed sea floor can release toxic
substances into the surrounding environment.
The dredge spoil from the Abbot Point port project is to be
dumped 24 kilometres (15 mi) away, near Bowen in north Queensland, and
the approval from the Authority will result in the production of an
extra 70 million tonnes of coal annually, worth between A$1.4 billion
and $2.8 billion. Authority chairman, Dr Russell Reichelt, stated after the confirmation of the approval:
This approval is in line with the agency's view that port development
along the Great Barrier Reef coastline should be limited to existing
ports. As a deepwater port that has been in operation for nearly 30
years, Abbot Point is better placed than other ports along the Great
Barrier Reef coastline to undertake expansion as the capital and
maintenance dredging required will be significantly less than what would
be required in other areas. It's important to note the seafloor of the
approved disposal area consists of sand, silt and clay and does not
contain coral reefs or seagrass beds.
The approval was provided with a corresponding set of 47 new environmental conditions that include the following:
A long-term water quality monitoring plan extending five years after the disposal activity is completed.
A heritage management plan to protect the Catalina second world war aircraft wreck in Abbot Bay.
The establishment of an independent dredging and disposal technical
advice panel and a management response group, to include community
representatives.
Numerous responses, including online petitions, were published in opposition to the proposal: Greenpeace
launched the "Save the Reef" campaign in opposition to the dumping,
which remained active with over 170,000 signatures on 3 March 2014; in addition to an online petition that registered more than 250,000 signatures on 3 March 2014, political activist group GetUp!
are also funding a legal case in conjunction with non-profit
Environmental Defenders Office of Queensland (EDO), which represents the
North Queensland Conservation Council; and "Fight for the Reef", a partnership between World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-Australia and the Australian Marine Conservation Society
(AMCS), maintains a campaign that collects online donations to fund a
"legal fighting team", and displayed nearly 60,000 supporters on its
website on 11 May 2014.
The legal fighting team of the WWF-Australia and the AMCS
received further support in April 2014 following the release of the
"Sounds for the Reef" musical fundraising project. Produced by
Straightup, the digital album features artists such as John Butler, The Herd, Sietta, Missy Higgins, The Cat Empire,
Fat Freddys Drop, The Bamboos (featuring Kylie Auldist) and Resin Dogs.
Released on 7 April, the album's 21 songs were sold on the Bandcamp website.
Further support for the WWF-Australia and AMCS partnership occurred in late April 2014, when the Ben & Jerry's
ice cream company signed onto the "Fight for the Reef" campaign. In
early April 2014, the company withdrew the popular "Phish Food" flavour
in Australia due to the aquatic association and the potential for
awareness-raising. The product withdrawal decision followed tours around
select parts of the nation that involved Ben & Jerry's
representatives distributing free ice cream to highlight the reef damage
issue.
In response, Minister for the Environment and Heritage Protection of Queensland Andrew Powell said that he would be contacting parent corporation Unilever,
explaining, "The only people taking a scoop out of the reef is Ben and
Jerry's and Unilever. If you understand the facts, you'd want to be
boycotting Ben and Jerry's". The Australian public was also informed by
Australian Ben & Jerry's brand manager Kalli Swaik, who stated to
the Brisbane Times newspaper: "Ben & Jerry's believes that
dredging and dumping in world heritage waters surrounding the marine
park area will be detrimental to the reef ecology. It threatens the
health of one of Australia's most iconic treasures."
Ben & Jerry's can campaign on whatever issue they like but as a
company they have an obligation to tell Australians the whole truth and
nothing but the truth. Australia has strict laws to protect consumers
against misleading and deceptive behavior. These mistruths could cost
jobs and development in regional Queensland. It's irresponsible behavior
from a company that should know better.
In 2015 the mining industry generated proposals for 5 additional port
developments outside the existing ports. In response the Great Barrier
Reef Marine Park Authority proposed a ban on disposal of all capital
works dredge spoil in the GBR Marine Park, including the yet to be
commenced Abbot Point development. This regulation change to the Great
Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975 was enacted in 2015.
After Cyclone Debbie in 2017, the Adani-operated port released water with eight times the permitted sediment into the Abbot Point lagoon.
Sea temperature and bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef
According to the GBRMPA in 2014, the most significant threat to the status of the Great Barrier Reef is climate change,
due to the consequential rise of sea temperatures, gradual ocean
acidification and an increase in the number of "intense weather events".
Hughes writes of "the demonstrable failure of the state and
Commonwealth" to address the issue of climate change in his August 2014
article. Furthermore, a temperature rise of between two and three degrees Celsius would result in 97% of the Great Barrier Reef being bleached every year.
Reef scientist Terry Done has predicted that a one-degree rise in global temperature
would result in 82% of the reef bleached—two degrees would result in
97%, while three degrees would result in "total devastation".
A predictive model based on the 1998 and 2002 bleaching events has
concurred that a temperature rise of three degrees would result in total
coral mortality.
However, a few scientists hold that coral bleaching may in some
cases be less of a problem than the mainstream believes. Professor Peter Ridd,
from James Cook University in Townsville was quoted in The Australian
(a conservative newspaper) as saying; "They are saying bleaching is the
end of the world, but when you look into it, that is a highly dubious
proposition". Research by scientist Ray Berkelmans "... has documented
astonishing levels of recovery on the Keppel outcrops devastated by
bleaching in 2006."
A related article in The Australian newspaper goes on to explain that;
"Those that expel their zooxanthellae have a narrow opening to
recolonise with new, temperature-resistant algae before succumbing. In
the Keppels in 2006, Berkelmans and his team noticed that the dominant
strain of zooxanthellae changed from light and heat-sensitive type C2,
to more robust types D and C1."
Nevertheless, most coral reef researchers anticipate severely
negative effects from climate change already occurring, and potentially
disastrous effects as climate change worsens.
The future of the Reef may well depend on how much the planet's climate
changes, and thus, on how high atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration
levels are allowed to rise. On 2 September 2009, a report by the
Australian Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority revealed that if carbon dioxide levels reached 450 parts per million
corals and reef habitats will be highly vulnerable. If carbon dioxide
levels are managed at or below 380 parts per million they will be only
moderately vulnerable and the reefs will remain coral-dominated.
Global warming may have triggered the collapse of reef ecosystems
throughout the tropics. Increased global temperatures are thought by
some to bring more violent tropical storms,
but reef systems are naturally resilient and recover from storm
battering. Most people agree that an upward trend in temperature will
cause much more coral bleaching;
others suggest that while reefs may die in certain areas, other areas
will become habitable for corals, and new reefs will form.
However, the rate at which the mass bleaching events occur is estimated
to be much faster than reefs can recover from, or adjust to.
However, Kleypas et al. in their 2006 report suggest that the trend towards ocean acidification indicates that as the sea's pH decreases, corals will become less able to secrete calcium carbonate. In 2009, a study showed that Porites
corals, the most robust on the Great Barrier Reef, have slowed down
their growth by 14.2% since 1990. It suggested that the cause was heat
stress and a lower availability of dissolved calcium to the corals.
Climate change has implications for other forms of life on the Great Barrier Reef as well – some fishes' preferred temperature range
lead them to seek new areas to live, thus causing chick mortality in
seabirds that prey on the fish. Also, in sea turtles, higher
temperatures mean that the sex ratio of their populations will change,
as the sex of sea turtles is determined by temperature. The habitat of
sea turtles will also shrink.
A 2018 study which compared the sex ratio of green sea turtles in the
northern and southern populations found that the northern population was
almost all female.
On 22 April 2018 scientists expressed alarm that the impact of climate change could cause massive damage to the ecosystem.
The Great Barrier Reef "glue" is at risk from ocean
acidification: a study in 2020 argues that in the present-day context of
rapid global climate change, changes in dissolved carbon dioxide, pH
and temperature, could lead to reduced microbial crust formation,
thereby weakening reef frameworks in the future. The study involved
extensive sampling of the Great Barrier Reef fossil record and has shown
that the calcified scaffolds that help stabilize and bind its structure
become thin and weaker as pH levels fall.
Crown-of-thorns starfish
Crown-of-thorns starfish and eaten coral off the coast of Cooktown, Queensland
The crown-of-thorns starfish is a coral reef predator which preys on coral polyps by climbing onto them, extruding its stomach over them, and releasing digestive enzymes
to absorb the liquefied tissue. An individual adult of this species can
eat up to six square meters of living reef in a single year.
Geological evidence suggests that the crown-of-thorns starfish has been
part of the Great Barrier Reef's ecology for "at least several thousand
years", but there is no geological evidence for crown-of-thorns
outbreaks. The first known outbreak occurred during the 1960s.
Large outbreaks of these starfish can devastate reefs. In 2000, an
outbreak contributed to a loss of 66% of live coral cover on sampled
reefs in a study by the CRC Reefs Research Centre.
Although large outbreaks of these starfish are believed to occur in
natural cycles, human activity in and around the Great Barrier Reef can
worsen the effects. Reduction of water quality associated with
agriculture can cause the crown-of-thorns starfish larvae
to thrive. Fertilizer runoff from farming increases the amount of
phytoplankton available for the crown-of-thorns starfish larvae to
consume. A study by the Australian Institute of Marine Science
showed that a doubling of the chlorophyll in the water leads to a
tenfold increase in the crown-of-thorns starfish larvae's survival rate. Overfishing of its natural predators, such as the Giant Triton, is also considered to contribute to an increase in the number of crown-of-thorns starfish. The CRC Reef Research Centre defines an outbreak as when there are more than 30 adult starfish in an area of one hectare.
There have been three large outbreaks of COTS on the reef since
observation began, between 1962 and 1976; 1978 and 1991; 1993 and 2005,
and a fourth began in 2009.
Investigation is being undertaken into mimicking a chemical scent
released by the COTS' natural predator, the giant triton snail.
Overfishing
The unsustainable overfishing of keystone species, such as the Giant Triton and sharks, can cause disruption to food chains vital to life on the reef. Fishing also impacts the reef through increased pollution from boats, bycatch of unwanted species (such as dolphins and turtles) and reef habitat destruction from trawling, anchors and nets. Overfishing of herbivore populations can cause algal growths on reefs. The batfishPlatax pinnatus has been observed to significantly reduce algal growths in studies simulating overfishing.
Sharks are fished for their meat, and when they are part of bycatch, it
is common to kill the shark and throw it overboard, as there is a
belief that they interfere with fishing. As of 1 July 2004, approximately one-third of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is protected from species removal of any kind, including fishing, without written permission. However, illegal poaching is not unknown in these no-take zones. A 2015 study into coral trout
on the Great Barrier Reef found that the no-take zones had more coral
trout and more coral trout larvae after tropical cyclone events, which
helped replenish those areas sooner. The GBRMPA has a hotline to report suspected poachers.
The government of Queensland has a "shark control" program (shark culling) that deliberately kills sharks in Queensland, including in the Great Barrier Reef.Environmentalists and scientists say that this program harms the marine ecosystem; they also say it is "outdated, cruel and ineffective". The Queensland "shark control" program uses shark nets and drum lines with baited hooks to kill sharks in the Great Barrier Reef – as of 2018, there are 173 lethal drum lines in the Great Barrier Reef. In Queensland, sharks found alive on the baited hooks are shot. Queensland's "shark control" program killed about 50,000 sharks from 1962 to 2018. In addition, Queensland's "shark control" program has killed many other animals (such as dolphins and turtles) – the program killed 84,000 marine animals from 1962 to 2015, including in the Great Barrier Reef.
In 2018, Humane Society International filed a lawsuit against the government of Queensland to stop shark culling in the Great Barrier Reef.
In 2019, a court (tribunal) said the lethal practices had to stop, but
the government of Queensland resumed shark-killing in the Great Barrier
Reef when they appealed the decision. The litigation is ongoing.
Shipping
The Shen Neng 1 aground on the Great Barrier Reef, 5 April 2010
Shipping accidents continue to be perceived as a threat, as several
commercial shipping routes pass through the Great Barrier Reef. The
GBRMPA estimates that about 6000 vessels greater than 50 metres (164 ft)
in length use the Great Barrier Reef as a route. From 1985 to 2001, 11 collisions and 20 groundings occurred along the Great Barrier Reef shipping route, with human error identified as the leading cause of shipping accidents.
Reef pilots have stated that they consider the reef route safer
than outside the reef in the event of mechanical failure, since a ship
can sit safely while being repaired. The inner route is used by 75% of all ships that travel over the Great Barrier Reef. As of 2007, over 1,600 known shipwrecks have occurred in the Great Barrier Reef region.
Waste and foreign species discharged from ships in ballast water (when purging procedures are not followed) are a biological hazard to the Great Barrier Reef. Tributyltin (TBT) compounds found in some antifouling paint
on ship hulls leaches into seawater and is toxic to marine organisms
and humans; as of 2002, efforts are underway to restrict its use.
In April 2010, the bulk coal carrier Shen Neng 1ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef,
causing the largest grounding scar to date. The spill caused damage to a
400,000sqm section of the Great Barrier Reef and the use of oil
dispersant resulted in oil spreading to reef islands 25 km away.
In 2012 and 2013, there were 9619 ship voyages through the Great
Barrier Reef region, and this is forecast to increase 250% over the next
20 years.
Over 9,600 ship voyages occurred in the GBRMPA between 2012 and 2013.
Oil
It was suspected that the Great Barrier Reef is the cap to an oil trap, after a 1923 paper suggested that it had the right rock formation to support "oilfields of great magnitude". After the Commonwealth Petroleum Search Subsidies Act of 1957, exploration activities increased in Queensland, including a well drilled at Wreck Island in the southern Great Barrier Reef in 1959. In the 1960s, drilling for oil and gas was investigated throughout the Great Barrier Reef, by seismic and magnetic methods in the Torres Strait, along "the eastern seaboard of Cape York to Princess Charlotte Bay" and along the coast from Cooktown to Fraser Island. In the late 1960s, more exploratory wells were drilled near Wreck Island in the Capricorn Channel, and near Darnley Island in the Torres Strait, but "all results were dry".
In 1970, responding to concern about oil spills such as the Torrey Canyon, two Royal Commissions
were ordered "into exploratory and production drilling for petroleum in
the area of the Great Barrier Reef". After the Royal Commissions, the
federal and state governments ceased allowing petroleum drilling on the
Great Barrier Reef. A study in 1990 concluded that the reef is too young to contain oil reserves.
Oil drilling remains prohibited on the Great Barrier Reef, yet oil
spills due to shipping routes are still a threat to the reef system,
with a total of 282 oil spills between 1987 and 2002.
Tropical cyclones are a cause of ecological disturbance
to the Great Barrier Reef. The types of damage caused by tropical
cyclones to the Great Barrier Reef is varied, including fragmentation,
sediment plumes, and decreasing salinity following heavy rains (Cyclone Joy).
The patterns of reef damage are similarly "patchy". From 1910 to 1999,
170 cyclones' paths came near or through the Great Barrier Reef. Most
cyclones pass through the Great Barrier Reef within a day. In general, compact corals such as Porites fare better than branching corals under cyclone conditions. The major damage caused by Tropical Cyclone Larry
was to underlying reef structures, and breakage and displacement of
corals, which is overall consistent with previous tropical cyclone
events.
Severe tropical cyclones hit the Queensland coast every 200 to 300 years; however, during the period 1969–1999 most cyclones in the region were very weak – category one or two on the Australian Bureau of Meteorology scale.
On 2 February 2011, Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi
struck northern Queensland and caused severe damage to a stretch of
hundreds of kilometres within the Great Barrier Reef. The corals could
take a decade to recover fully. Cyclone Yasi had wind speeds of 290
kilometers per hour.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park protects a large part of Australia's Great Barrier Reef
from damaging activities. It is a vast multiple-use Marine Park which
supports a wide range of uses, including commercial marine tourism,
fishing, ports and shipping, recreation, scientific research and
Indigenous traditional use. Fishing and the removal of artefacts or wildlife (fish, coral, seashells,
etc.) is strictly regulated, and commercial shipping traffic must stick
to certain specific defined shipping routes that avoid the most
sensitive areas of the park. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest and
best known coral reef ecosystem in the world. Its reefs, almost 3000 in
total, represent about 10 per cent of all the coral reef areas in the
world. It supports an amazing variety of biodiversity, providing a home
to thousands of coral and other invertebrate species, bony fish, sharks,
rays, marine mammals, marine turtles, sea snakes, as well as algae and
other marine plants.
Managing authority
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA)
is responsible for the care and protection of the Great Barrier Reef
Marine Park. It uses a range of tools to manage the marine park
including Acts and Regulations, zoning plan, plans of management, traditional owner
agreements, partnerships, stewardship and best practice, education,
research and monitoring and reporting. It issues permits for various
forms of use of the marine park, and monitors usage in the park to
ensure compliance with rules and regulations associated with the park.
GBRMPA is funded by Commonwealth Government appropriations and an
environmental management charge levied on the permit-holders'
passengers. Currently this is A$6.00 per day per passenger (to a maximum of $16.50 per trip).
In May 2022 the Darumbal people were officially recognised as the traditional custodians of an expanse of ocean covering 36,606 km2
(14,134 sq mi) off the Central Queensland Coast, making it the largest
Traditional Use of Marine Resources Agreement (TUMRA) on the reef. The
agreement created a partnership with GBRMPA and Queensland's Department of Environment and Science. The occasion was marked by a ceremony on the beach at Emu Park.
Description
Extent
Map of The Great Barrier Reef Region, World Heritage Area and Marine Park, 2014
The marine park lies east of the mainland coast of Queensland, starting in the north at Cape York. Its northern boundary is the circle of latitude 10°41'S (running east up to the eastern edge of the Great Barrier Reef at 145º19'33"E), thereby encompassing those few uninhabited Torres Strait Islands that are east of Cape York, south of 10°41'S and north of 11°00'S. The largest of those island are Albany Island (5.9 km2 or 2.3 sq mi), Turtle Head Island 12.8 km2 or 4.9 sq mi and Trochus Island 2.2 km2 or 0.85 sq mi. Further islands are Mai Island 0.25 km2 or 0.097 sq mi, Bush Island 0.2 km2 or 0.077 sq mi, Tree Islet 0.01 km2 or 0.0039 sq mi, Brewis Island 0.05 km2 or 0.019 sq mi, and a few unnamed islets.
IUCN Category Ia with an area of 859 square kilometres (332 sq mi) being about 0.2% of the marine park's area,
IUCN Category II with an area of 114,309 square kilometres (44,135 sq mi) being about 33%,
IUCN Category IV with an area of 15,027 square kilometres (5,802 sq mi) being about 4% and
IUCN Category VI with an area of 213,769 square kilometres (82,537 sq mi) being about 62%.
History
In 1975, the Government of Australia enacted the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975, which created the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, and defined what acts were prohibited on the Reef. Joe Baker,
who was involved in the bid to make the Great Barrier Reef World
Heritage-listed in 1981, was a founding member of the Great Barrier Reef
Marine Park Authority.
The Australian Government also has recognised the ecological significance of this Park by its inclusion in the nation's Biodiversity Action Plan. The Government of Australia manages the reef through the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and in partnership with the Government of Queensland,
to ensure that it is widely understood and used in a sustainable
manner. A combination of zoning, management plans, permits, education
and incentives (such as eco-tourism certification) is used in the effort to conserve the Great Barrier Reef.
As many species of the Great Barrier Reef are migratory, many
international, national, and interstate conventions or pieces of
legislation must be taken into account when strategies for conservation
are made.
Some international conventions that the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park must follow are: the Bonn Convention, Ramsar Site (for the Bowling Green Bay National Park site), CITES, JAMBA and CAMBA.
Some national legislation that the Park must follow are: Great Barrier
Reef Marine Park Act 1975,
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, National
Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development, National Strategy for
the Conservation of Australia's Biological Diversity, Australia's
Oceans Policy, National Strategy for the Conservation of Australian
Species and Communities Threatened with Extinction.
Some state legislation that the Park must follow are: Nature
Conservation Act 1992, Marine Parks Act 1982, Fisheries Act 1994,
Queensland Nature Conservation (Wildlife) Regulation 1994.
For example, the Queensland Government has enacted several plans attempting to regulate fishing. The East Coast Trawl Management Plan 1999 aimed to regulate trawling through limiting the times when trawling is permitted and restricting gear used. The Fisheries (Coral Reef Fin Fish Fishery) Management Plan 2003 aimed at reducing the annual commercial catch to 1996 levels, disallowing fishing when the fish are spawning and increasing the minimum legal size of fish.
The Great Barrier Reef was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981.
Up until 1999, there were four main zones in the Great Barrier Reef
Marine Park. They were the "Far Northern", "Cairns", "Central" and
"Mackay/Capricorn" sections. These zoning sections were created between
1983 and 1987. Another section, the "Gumoo Woojabuddee" section was
declared in 1998. Each section had its own zoning plan. The Great Barrier Marine Park Zoning Plan 2003 superseded all previous zoning plans, coming into effect on 1 July 2004.
In July 2004, a new zoning plan was brought into effect for the
entire Marine Park, and has been widely acclaimed as a new global
benchmark for the conservation of marine ecosystems. The rezoning was based on the application of systematic conservation planning techniques, using the MARXAN software.
On 1 July 2004 the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park became the largest
protected sea area in the world when the Australian Government increased
the areas protected from extractive activities (such as fishing) from 4.6% to 33.3% of the park. As of 2006, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Monument
is the largest protected marine area in the world. The management
committee draws inspiration from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
Authority's management strategies.
The current method of zoning is called the "Representative Areas
Program", which chooses "typical" areas of the Great Barrier Reef Marine
Park. They can then be protected in "Green Zones" (no-take zones). The Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area has been divided into 70 bioregions, of which 30 are reef bioregions, and 40 are non-reef bioregions.
In 2006, a review was undertaken of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975.
Some recommendations of the review are that there should be no further
zoning plan changes until 2013, and that every five years, a
peer-reviewed Outlook Report should be published, examining the health
of the Great Barrier Reef, the management of the Reef, and environmental
pressures.
In early 2007, GBRMPA was one of three nominees for the Destination Award in the World Travel and Tourism Council's Tourism for Tomorrow Awards.
In 2012, legislation was introduced which compelled developers to
deposit money into the Reef Trust. Professor Tiffany Morrison argues
that this has made it easier for developments to be approved in the
region.
The week before 21 July 2013, on the second day of the biennial joint training exercise Talisman Saber, two American AV-8B Harrier fighter jets launched from aircraft carrier USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6)
dropped four bombs, weighing a total 1.8 metric tons (4,000 pounds),
into more than 50 metres (164 ft) of water. None exploded and no coral
was damaged.
People such as scientists, conservationists, developers,
managers, tourism entrepreneurs and politicians have had major
influences on the history of the reef
In 2015, the Australian Government and Reef Ecologic Pty Ltd conducted a
coral reef training course to build capacity to protect coral reefs.
The crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci), while native to the reef, poses one of its greatest threats when outbreaks occur. Several efforts have been made to identify and control these outbreaks, including the COTSBot developed by Queensland University of Technology.
These outbreaks and subsequent threats have led to an increase in
awareness and appearances in mainstream media, as industry and
conservation groups try to control the COTS and protect the reef. An
infographic explaining the process of identifying and targeting this
threat can be seen here.
Outlook for the Reef
The Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report 2014, published every five years, examines the Great Barrier Reef's health, pressures, and likely future.
The report is required under Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975
(section 54) and aims to provide a regular and reliable means of
assessing reef health and management in an accountable and transparent
way.
The report finds the greatest risks to the Reef are still climate
change, land-based run-off, coastal development, some fishing impacts,
illegal fishing and poaching.
Associated protected areas
The Great Barrier Reef Coast Marine Park
is a marine protected area located in Queensland waters adjoining the
Great Barrier Reef. It was created on 5 November 2004 by the
amalgamation of the following former marine parks – the Mackay/Capricorn
Marine Park, the Townville/Whitsunday Marine Park, the Trinity Inlet/
Marlin Coast Marine Park and the Cairns Marine Park, along with the
addition of previously unprotected area of coastal water that adjoined
the former marine parks listed above. The marine park is intended to
complement the adjoining GBRMP by the use of "similar zone objectives,
and entry and use provisions". It is managed by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.
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