Australian officials plan to redouble their efforts to save the Great Barrier Reef from the effects of global warming. The world’s largest coral reef system is under threat from rising ocean temperatures, ocean acidification and violent tropical weather. Scientists also have struggled to contain outbreaks of the crown-of-thorns starfish, a polyp-eating predator that can threaten the reef’s health. In response to these dangers, Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment is floating a 30-year plan to protect the natural wonder.
The proposal calls for controlling surface runoff and shore-based water pollution that can harm the reef, along with improved coastal infrastructure planning. The draft also outlines rehabilitation efforts to be taken out to 2050. Harmful bleaching episodes at the Great Barrier Reef occurred in 2016 and 2017. The most recent bleaching event happened earlier this year during the Southern Hemisphere summer. Its impact is still being assessed. “In 2020, severe bleaching was more widespread than in previous bleaching events in 2016 and 2017,” the draft plan notes. “While major tourism areas of the Reef mostly had negligible or moderate bleaching in 2020, areas in the southern part of the Reef that escaped much of the impact in 2016 and 2017 were severely affected by this third event.”
The plan also calls for greater protections for sea grass communities. Sea grass is critical to the survival of endangered dugongs, a cousin species to Florida’s manatees. Money also would be directed at controlling future crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks and the spread of invasive species. The plan promises future initiatives to replace or replenish corals that are damaged or destroyed by storms or other impacts, citing past coral experiments in reseeding and relocating corals that proved successful.
Source: Scientific American
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