ZCZC
BFF-13
AUSTRALIA-ENVIRONMENT-CONSERVATION-REEF
Barrier Reef funding boost to tackle predatory starfish
SYDNEY, Jan 22, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A multimillion-dollar campaign to stop the
predatory crown-of-thorns starfish devouring the Great Barrier Reef was
announced by the Australian government Monday in a push to preserve the World
Heritage-listed ecosystem.
The coral-eating starfish are naturally occurring but have proliferated
due to pollution and agricultural run-off at the struggling reef.
Their impact has been profound — a major study of the 2,300-kilometre
(1,400-mile) long reef’s health in 2012 showed coral cover has halved over
the past 27 years, with 42 percent of the damage attributed to the pest.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Aud$60 million (US$58 million) would
go into the new drive, with just over half to be spent on incentives for
farmers to prevent agricultural pollutants from running into the reef.
Funds will also go towards increasing the number of patrol vessels and
divers targeting the starfish, he said.
“It is a vibrant, resilient ecosystem and one of the best-managed coral
reef ecosystems in the world,” Turnbull said in a statement.
“While it is facing increasing threats, we intend to remain leaders in
reef management,” he said, adding the fund would support the development of
new technology to help protect the reef.
The reef is also reeling from significant coral bleaching due to warming
sea temperatures linked to climate change.
Canberra in 2015 narrowly avoided UNESCO putting the site on its
endangered list, and has committed more than Aus$2.0 billion to preserve it
over the next decade.
But it has been criticised for backing a huge US$16 billion coal project
by Indian mining giant Adani near the reef, which environmentalists warned
would harm the natural wonder.
Conservationists said Monday the government’s latest funding announcement
did not go far enough and action is needed to slash greenhouse gas emissions
to prevent warming sea temperatures.
“It will be a classic case of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic
unless the federal government moves quickly away from coal and other fossil
fuels,” Imogen Zethoven from the Australian marine conservation society said
in a statement.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1031 hrs