GBR protection hailed, now time for the Coral Sea
08 Jul 2008
WWF-Australia has renewed its call for the boundaries of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park to be expanded to include the threatened Coral Sea.
The leading conservation organisation made the call following today's announcement at the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium in Florida that the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) is a world leader in management of coral reef ecosystems.
The praise of the Great Barrier Reef's management has come at a time when the scourge of climate change is posing a serious worldwide threat to valuable coral reefs.
A paper presented to the meeting claimed the authority has found a winning combination of science, policy, public outreach and flexible adaptive management that works to protect the reef from current and future threats.
"It is great to see the world's leading coral reef researchers recognise the reef has the best management in the business, however it exposes a stark contrast to the Coral Sea – Australia's second premiere coral reef site - which is virtually unprotected," said Dr Gilly Llewellyn, head of WWF-Australia's Oceans program.
"The Coral Sea deserves the highest standard of management. It is one of the last marine ecosystems on earth where you can find healthy populations of sharks, rare corals and other marine life - which are exposed to similar future threats such as unsustainable fishing and climate change."
Co-authored by Terry Hughes of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies in Australia, the publication also appears in the Proceedings of the US National Academy of Science.
The importance of GBRMPA's work was highlighted by new science revealing corals are succumbing to climate change and ocean acidification more rapidly than previously believed.
In a presentation on the opening day of the conference, Professor Malcolm McCulloch of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies said climate change-driven ocean acidification posed a severe threat to a range of coral reef creatures, including the calcareous algae that bind coral reefs together.
"Last month we learned how climate change is affecting the food-web of Southern Ocean whales, now we see how climate change is dissolving the bricks and mortar of coral reefs. The pace of these changes is frightening," said Dr Gilly Llewellyn said.
"Governments need to urgently make deep emissions cuts to give our ocean ecosystems the best possible chance to adapt to climate change."
For more information
Rachael Hoy, WWF Press Office
02 8202 1242, 0407 204 594
Julian Murphy, WWF Press Office
07 3211 2019, 0418 970 778
* 11th International Coral Reef Symposium Media Center: http://www.nova.edu/ncri/11icrs/media_newsroom.html
