Australia hailed “solid” progress on water quality at the Great Barrier Reef on Wednesday but admitted that overall conditions were now “poor” as it battles Unesco threats to downgrade its heritage status.
Environment Minister Mark Butler released a report card showing that the reef’s health had slumped since 2009 due to cyclones and floods, despite progress on reducing agricultural runoff.
“Extreme weather events significantly impacted the overall condition of the marine environment which declined from moderate to poor overall," the report said.
It said key reef ecosystems were showing “declining trends in condition due to continuing poor water quality, cumulative impacts of climate change and increasing frequency and intensity of extreme events”.
Despite reductions in nitrogen (7 per cent), pesticides (15 per cent), sediment (six per cent) and pollutants key to outbreaks of devastating crown-of-thorns starfish (13 per cent), the report said the reef was in strife.
Major flooding in 2010-2011 followed by powerful cyclone Yasi had badly damaged the world’s largest coral reef, degrading water quality and depleting overall cover by 15 per cent.