A government report card found that the marine environment along the shoreline of the Great Barrier Reef remains in poor health, prompting conservationists to take urgent action before a World Heritage Committee meeting.
The report card on the water quality of the reef, released on Wednesday, said that the health of corals and seagrass meadows in coastal areas did not improve, but that the water quality was slightly better than previous years.
Officials gave the state of the marine environment a ‘D’ degree in 2019 compared to reports on 2017 and 2018.
Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley and the Queensland Environment Minister and Great Barrier Reef Minister Meaghan Scanlon said improving farming practices and a $ 667 million investment in support of agricultural farmers and sugarcane would help improve water conditions .
“The fact that the overall marine condition remains weak underscores the importance of these investments,” Ley said.
The Great Barrier Reef listed on the World Heritage Site is the world’s largest coral reef system, but is under increasing pressure from climate warming which caused massive bleaching events in 2016, 2017 and 2020.
The monitoring period of the report ended before the start of widespread bleaching in early 2020.
Scientists say that improving water quality and reducing sediments, fertilizers and chemicals that run in the waters of the reef give the system a greater chance of recovering from future bleaching.
The UN World Heritage Committee is due to review the status of the reef at a meeting scheduled for June in China.
In 2017, the committee said progress toward achieving water quality targets needed to be accelerated.
Governments have set a series of targets for 2025 for the reef catchment.
Ley and Scanlon pointed to the reduction in levels of dissolved inorganic nitrogen – derived from fertilizers – with cumulative levels falling by 25.5% since 2013. The target is a 60% drop by 2025.
The wet tropics and Burdekin farmers have made the biggest contribution to improving water quality, ministers said.
The Queensland government says dissolved inorganic nitrogen is linked to algae blooms, eruptions of coral-eating starfish and coral diseases.
In addition to water quality, there are also targets for improving soil management practices for sugarcane, grazing, horticulture, grains and bananas.
According to the targets, about 90% of the land in priority areas should use best practice by 2025.
Only 12.7% of the sugarcane farming land uses best practice, according to the report card. According to the report, the banana industry performed best, covering 65% of land.
The Queensland government adopted new water quality laws in 2019 that will give the government the power to set minimum standards.
Some rules around better record keeping already apply, but others are scheduled for later this year and 2022.
Dr Lissa Schindler, Great Barrier Reef campaigner at the Australian Marine Conservation Society, said the report card shows that governments ‘have a long way to go’ to meet the water quality targets set by the World Heritage Committee.
“Improving water quality needs the support and dedication of all farmers and growers in Queensland, and they will need the support of the Queensland Government to use best practices,” Schindler said. “That is why we are asking for more funding to meet the requirements of the agricultural sector quickly.”
She hoped that the influence of the government’s new laws in the next report card would force improvements in 2022.
Richard Leck, WWF-Australia’s ocean chief, said: ‘We know that the world is watching Australia’s performance in improving water quality on the Great Barrier Reef, and it’s about slow progress. But it is pleasing that there is progress.
‘The governments of Queensland and Australia must commit themselves to long-term investments to improve water quality and to ensure that reef regulations are adequately enforced.
‘What this report shows is that we need long-term commitments regarding water quality. This is a long-term problem and a lot needs to be done. ”