Australia Weighs Barrier Reef Health Against Development Plans ...

Australia?s government said it?s
balancing economic needs with conservation at the Great Barrier
Reef after the United Nations warned the site may be endangered
within a year without better protection.

Home to more than 1,500 species of fish, the reef is under
threat from coastal development, ports and natural gas projects,
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization said in a June 1 report. Unesco may consider in
February adding the reef to those World Heritage sites in danger
unless there?s ?substantial progress,? the organization said.

?We want to make sure we get that environmental best
practice,? Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese said
yesterday on Sky News in Australia. ?We can do that and still
make sure that we get good economic outcomes.?

The 3,000-kilometer (1,875-mile) marine park flanks the
coast of Queensland state, the world?s biggest source of
steelmaking coal and the exit route to Asia from ports at Abbot
Point and Gladstone. Unesco urged blocking of new port
developments and related infrastructure that would affect the
Great Barrier Reef, saying the scale of development poses
?serious concerns? about the site?s long-term conservation.

Crimping development would risk weakening an industry that
helped Australia avoid recession in the global financial crisis.
In the nation?s biggest commodities boom since the 1850s Gold
Rush, India and China bought coal and iron ore to power their
growing economies.

The federal and Queensland governments are in the early
stages of a strategic assessment of the reef, Environment
Minister Tony Burke said in a statement. He said the government
is ?acutely aware? of challenges facing the site.

?Wake-up Call?

The government should bar any new projects until it has
assessed the impact of the mining boom and the influence of
coastal developments on the reef, the Australian Conservation
Foundation said.

?This report should be a wake-up call for the federal
government,? the foundation?s chief executive officer, Don Henry, said in a statement. ?To have a potential ?in danger?
listing hanging over the reef is a national disgrace.?

Such a label would threaten A$5.1 billion ($4.9 billion) in
tourism revenue, according to Larissa Waters, a senator with the
Australian Greens party.

?Our reef should not be treated like a coal and gas
highway,? Waters said in a statement.

Unesco listed the reef, the world?s largest collection of
corals and the only living thing on earth visible from space, as
a World Heritage Site in 1981. It said in its report that
certain management practices have been ?high quality? and have
set an example to other marine parks.

?Serious Concern?

Still, the Paris-based organization expressed ?serious
concern? over Curtis Island, where Arrow Energy Ltd., owned by
Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) and PetroChina Co., plans a liquefied
natural gas development. There are ?unaddressed concerns? over
the management of the port and LNG facilities at Gladstone
Harbor, from where miners including London-based Rio Tinto Group
ship coal, Unesco said.

In the past decade, about 70 percent of proposed projects
on the Queensland coast that might impact the reef have won
approval, Unesco said.

?The rapid increase of coastal developments, including
ports infrastructure, is of significant concern,? Unesco said.
?Decisive action is required.?

To contact the reporter on this story:
Angus Whitley in Sydney at
awhitley1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Paul Tighe at
ptighe@bloomberg.net

Article source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-06-03/australia-weighs-barrier-reef-health-against-development-plans

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