WWF-Australia Caring for Farmers who Care for the Reef
At WWF-Australia, our dream is to achieve a future where the Great Barrier Reef is resilient and thriving, awash with clean waters and teaming with precious marine species like dugong, turtles and sharks.
For this dream to be realised, sediment and fertiliser run-off from adjacent rural catchments must be reduced.
This is a future where all the farmers and graziers of these catchments have revolutionised the way they operate.
Poor water quality, matched with a changing climate, means the Great Barrier Reef is under unprecedented stress for its very survival.
But there are solutions to give the reef resilience and ensure it has a healthy future.
Change is happening - Farmers adhere to new laws regarding pesticides and fertilisers
WWF-Australia has actively advocated to Governments and rural industry to take the lead in motivating this practice change.
Farm businesses in the reef catchment areas of north Queensland, which continue with outdated practices, are now required by legislation to reform their ways. Such outdated farming practices are no longer acceptable.
From January 1, 2010 more than 4,500 sugarcane farmers and graziers in reef catchment areas including the Wet Tropics, Mackay, Whitsunday and Burdekin Dry Tropics, are subject to new laws under Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef Protection Amendment Act 2009 passed by Parliament last September.
Incentives to change are in place and regional natural resource management groups and industry groups are spreading the word to encourage transformation.
Alternative practices are being adopted, change is happening, but the rate of change needs to be quicker and wider spread.
Innovative farmers who have already embraced reef-friendly changes need to be congratulated.
WWF Loves Farmers Caring For the Reef
WWF wants to give credit where credit is due and show our appreciation of their efforts to help protect the Great Barrier Reef.
The momentum for change is always led by the trail blazers - in this case, the sugar and cattle industry champions, who have already paved the way and shown reef-friendly farm practices, can be profitable.
It is only through recognising these achievements that we can build momentum for change.
Please show your appreciation for all the hard work our farmers are doing by signing our online postcard campaign.
Change is never easy but it can, and must, be done. The future of our reef depends on it.
Show your support for the farmers who are keeping the reef healthy
Please show your support for these innovative farmers by lending your name to our campaign. These thank-you notes will be delivered directly to our farming champions.
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