Pressures and Threats From Within and Adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area

Imogen Zethov

World Wide Fund for Nature Australia, BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA

Theme: TH5

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) was listed as a World Heritage Area (WHA) in 1981, based on its unique biological, ecological and aesthetic values. The World Heritage Convention urges all state parties to do their utmost to ensure that the natural heritage of an area is conserved, protected, presented and transmitted to future generations. However, increasing pressures and threats from both within and outside the WHA are placing parts of the system, and potentially the entire system, at risk. These range from global threats, such as climate change and coral bleaching, to local threats such as land-based sources of pollution and prawn bottom-trawling. The Australian State of the Environment Report 2001 found that the GBR was 'lucky' during the 1998 global-bleaching event, with only 3% of reefs being lost. Over 430 reefs are considered to be at risk along the developed catchments of the GBR coastline. Prawn trawling is legally permitted throughout 50% of the GBR Marine Park. Bottom-trawling damages the GBR seafloor and results in significant bycatch, raising questions about its consistency with the conservation and protection of the area's natural heritage. This contribution describes the two key threats which the World Wide Fund (WWF) considers are having a significant impact on the GBR -- land-based pollution and prawn trawling -- and considers what research, regulations, policies and programmes need to be put in place to mitigate these threats to ensure that management is consistent with the World Heritage Convention and community expectations.