The Australian Institute of Marine Science today released its annual long-term monitoring results for the 2023-24 year, showing sharp declines in hard coral cover across the Great Barrier Reef -off the back of record high levels of coral recovery recorded in the 2022 and 2023.
While these results are not unexpected, they are concerning. It is sobering to witness the real-time impacts of climate change on the world's greatest living natural wonder.
The Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan is the Australian and Queensland Government's overarching framework. It sets out how we will work together to protect and manage the Great Barrier Reef to 2050.
Together the Australian and Queensland governments have invested more than $5 billion, from 2014 to 2030, in Reef protection.
The Reef Authority is focused on action; our priority is to safeguard the health and resilience of the Reef now and into the future.
In partnership with scientists, tourism operators, traditional owners, councils, and the community, the Reef Authority is a global leader where marine park zoning has been proved to be an insurance policy for the Reef.
Research shows that coral within green zones - around 33 per cent of the Marine Park - recovers faster from the impacts of coral bleaching, disease, crown-of-thorns starfish predation and extreme weather events - and supports healthier fish stocks.
Other Reef Authority actions include:
Scaling up protection through programs like the Crown-of-thorns Starfish Control Program to protect coral under stress and limit further damage from outbreaks.
Improving water quality by supporting more than 30 Reef Guardian Council projects to reduce sediment, nutrient and contaminant runoff from the catchment into Reef waters.
Applying resilience-based management and real-time monitoring, supported by science, to prioritise protection where it's most effective.
Supporting tourism operators and community partners to deliver site-level reef protection, stewardship, and education through initiatives like the Tourism Reef Protection Initiative, Master Reef Guides and Eye on the Reef.
Strengthening compliance and surveillance to reduce illegal fishing and unlawful activity in Marine Park zones, covering 2,300km of the coastline, about 3, 000 individual reefs and 900 islands.
The AIMS report showed coral cover across the Great Barrier Reef remained high by global standards for the year 2023-24.
These results do not provide a full analysis of the 2024-25 summer just been. The Reef Snapshot summer 2024-25 provides a point-in-time summary of conditions throughout the previous summer.
The Reef of the future will be different. By acting now, we can protect key habitats, support biodiversity, and give this global icon the best possible chance as the planet grapples with the ongoing impacts of climate change.
