Dire Risks for Icy Waters & Reefs

World leaders in Antarctic marine conservation this week sent a strong message to Copenhagen negotiators concerning the dire risks facing the southern continent, while WWF-Australia also says the Great Barrier Reef still faces enormous threats from coastal developments. On 11 November there’s at a high level briefing in Brisbane on the Reef.

In Brisbane on 11 November, WWF Australia has organised for Dr Russell Reichelt, CEO, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority will provide a high level briefing on the latest science in the recently published Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report 2009.

Dr Russell Reichelt was appointed as Chairman and Chief Executive of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority in November 2007. He is presently a board member of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre. He has a PhD in marine science from the University of Queensland (1980) and has served as Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Institute of Marine Science,

Chairman of the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation and as a member of Australia’s State of the Environment Committee and the Queensland Government’s Smart State Council.

Nick Heath will explain the key threats to the Reef and WWF’s campaign to save it.

CEO of WWF Australia Greg Bourne will be there to outline to business leaders and Government the full extent of the problem and what needs to be done for the Great Barrier Reef.

On 2 November 2009, WWF reported:

Environment Minister Peter Garrett’s decision not to allow a massive resort development on Great Keppel Island is welcome news at a time when the Great Barrier Reef faces enormous threats from coastal developments and wildlife across the country continues to decline.

There are currently 110 proposed marine infrastructure areas planned along the Queensland coast with 45 of these in or adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. Meanwhile the Federal Government has released a report today that reveals all of Australia’s threatened species are in continued decline.

“It’s very welcome news that Minister Garrett has knocked back the proposal for an unacceptably large tourist resort on Great Keppel Island,” said Lydia Gibson, WWF’s Marine Policy Manager.

“We hope this is an indication that the government will show a similar level of consideration for the future development proposals in the area.”

However, Minister Garrett’s decision to protect Great Keppel Island comes amidst continuing and precipitous species declines across Australia, as recognised by the Australian Terrestrial Biodiversity Assessment released today.

The report notes that “There were no cases of real improvement in the status of listed (terrestrial) taxa at the national level.”

“Today’s Terrestrial Biodiversity Assessment Report clearly shows that Australia’s wildlife is still in massive decline. We must clearly do a better job of protecting our marine life than we have of protecting our terrestrial species,” said Averil Bones, WWF’s Biodiversity Policy Manager.

Coastal development was considered one of the major threats to the reef in the recent Reef Outlook Report, which painted a grim picture for the reef’s future unless such pressures were reduced.

The report also identified a lack of integrated planning, resources and enforcement in managing coastal development that was seriously compromising the protection of the Great Barrier Reef.

The massive GKI Resort Pty Ltd proposal included a 300-room hotel and day spa, 1700 resort villas, 300 resort apartments, a 560 berth marina and yacht club, ferry terminal, retail village, golf course and sporting oval.

“What is urgently needed is a fundamental strategic approach to avoid the mass industrialisation of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area,” Ms Gibson said.

“The impacts of this scale of development on coral communities, coastal wetlands and marine species when combined with the additional pressures of climate change and farm run-off, would push the reef to the point of no return.”

WWF reports on 5 November 2009):

World leaders in Antarctic marine conservation gathering in Hobart this week must send a strong message to Copenhagen negotiators concerning the dire risks facing the southern continent as a result of climate change, WWF-Australia warned today.

Representatives of more than 30 nations, including Australia, New Zealand, Russia, China, the European Union and the United States are meeting in Hobart from October 26 to November 6 as part of the annual Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).

The convention is one of the last opportunities on a global level to send a strong message to world leaders as the countdown to climate change talks in Copenhagen in December begins.

“It’s not only the species living in this extremely cold environment that will be impacted by climate change in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. Changes to the southern polar regions could create devastating cascade effects felt throughout the world,” said Mr Rob Nicoll, WWF Antarctic and Southern Ocean Initiative Manager.

“Antarctica and the ocean currents that surround it have a profound effect on the world’s climate. A change to any one of the major systems on this continent will be felt by us all.

“It is critical that delegates meeting this week at CCAMLR make their voices heard in Copenhagen: we need a strong agreement in December if we are to effectively deal with the dangers posed by climate change to this pristine and most precious of environments.”

Alarming research recently published in respected journal Science indicates that carbon levels today are only slightly lower than they were 20 million years ago, when temperatures were 3-6C higher, the Antarctic ice caps had completely melted and sea levels were 25-40 metres higher.1 “In short, we could be very close to a major climate tipping point and not even be aware of it,” said Mr Nicoll.

Despite the far-reaching effects climate change in Antarctica could have on the rest of the planet, research into how quickly the continent is changing has been limited by its isolation and extreme weather conditions.

To combat this lack of knowledge, WWF and the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre is supporting the Australian Antarctic Division’s effort to establish the Southern Ocean Sentinel climate change monitoring program.

“The 2007 IPCC Report indicated our current understanding of climate change in Antarctica and the Southern Oceans has made it difficult to predict with certainty when key climate change tipping points will be reached in this region and how quickly those changes will affect the rest of the world,” Mr Nicoll said.

“The Sentinel program aims to facilitate a long term collaborative international program to gather data on climate change and its effects on the Southern Ocean.

“This information can be used to improve management practices and predict future climate change impacts on the Southern Ocean and the rest of the world.

“With recent research indicating climate change is proceeding more rapidly than was predicted by the IPCC, the Sentinel program is an urgently needed component in our understanding of climate change.

“Not only does the Antarctic’s future depend on it, so does our own.”

Source: www.wwf.org.au