Brodie, Jon (2000) Keeping the wolf from the door: managing land-based threats to the Great Barrier Reef. In: Proceedings of the 9th International Coral Reef Symposium (2) pp. 705-714. From: Ninth International Coral Reef Symposium, 23-27 October 2000, Bali, Indonesia.

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Abstract

Pollution of the Great Barrier Reef is dominated by runoff from the adjacent catchment. The principal land-uses contributing to this pollution are rangeland beef grazing and cropping, with lesser contributions from industrial and urban development. Runoff of sediment, nutrients and pesticides is increasing and for most pollutants the load is many times the natural amount discharged 150 years ago. Effects are now evident on inshore reefs, seagrasses and marine animals. Reduced coral cover and diversity and high levels of juvenile coral post-settlement mortality in a eutrophication gradient in the Whitsundays reef region is reported. The herbicide diuron is found in many areas of inshore seagrass at concentrations above those known to interfere with photosynthesis in seagrasses. The legislation and processes in place to manage the agricultural component of catchment pollution appear to be ineffective. To date, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act has not provided effective jurisdiction on the catchment to manage pollution loads to the Marine Park. Existing Queensland legislation addressing agricultural pollution relies on voluntary codes and as yet there is no assessment of the effectiveness of the codes. Integrated catchment management strategies, also voluntary, provide some positive outcomes but are of limited success for downstream ecosystems of the Great Barrier Reef. Pollutant loads are predicted to continue to increase and it is unlikely that current management regimes will prevent this increase. Management of point source pollution from urban and industrial sources has been successful. New 1nechanisms to prevent continued degradation of inshore ecosystems of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area caused by land-sourced agricultural pollution are urgently needed.

Item ID:	14657
Item Type:	Conference Item (Research - E1)
ISBN:	979-8105-97-4
Keywords:	Great Barrier Reef; land-based threats; pollution
Date Deposited:	23 Aug 2017 22:50
FoR Codes:	05 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 0502 Environmental Science and Management > 050299 Environmental Science and Management not elsewhere classified @ 51% 05 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 0502 Environmental Science and Management > 050204 Environmental Impact Assessment @ 49%
SEO Codes:	96 ENVIRONMENT > 9605 Ecosystem Assessment and Management > 960508 Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Mining Environments @ 100%
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