Here is 1 Million Women's weekly Reef Brief : A quick round-up of Great Barrier Reef-related news and policy developments for the week to Monday, June 9 th , part of our campaign: IM Declaring the Reef in Danger – which reached nearly 19,000 signatories during the past week. This week we’re focusing on the start of the annual meeting of the World Heritage Committee, which starts in a matter of days in Doha, the capital of Qatar in the Middle East.
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1. KEY UNESCO REPORT
In particular, we want to highlight a key scientific assessment compiled by UNESCO experts and released in May, ahead of this month’s meeting of the 21-nation UNESCO World Heritage Committee, which runs June 15-25.
It cites draft assessments assembled by the official Australian Government and Queensland Government established body, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), with UNESCO reporting to the Committee that:
'The GBRMPA draft SA (strategic assessment) underlines concerns expressed by the Committee regarding serious decline in the condition of the GBR, including in coral recruitment and reef building across extensive parts of the property, and that a business as usual approach to managing the property is not an option.
'It further indicates that climate change remains the most significant threat to the long-term health of the reef. The SA concludes that the loss of resilience is not attributable to any single cause but to the effect of cumulative impacts and that management is not keeping pace with these.'
UNESCO concludes:
'Given the range of significant threats affecting the property and the conflicting information about the effectiveness of recent decisions and draft policies, significant concern remains regarding the long-term deterioration of key aspects of the OUV of the property, and the completion of work to tackle short- and long-term threats. Therefore, it is recommended that the Committee consider, in the absence of substantial progress on the key issues addressed above, the inscription of the Great Barrier Reef on the List of World Heritage in Danger at its 39th session in 2015.'
So, if all goes as expected this month, a final decision on whether or not the Reef is to be declared as ‘World Heritage in Danger’ will be postponed until mid next year.
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2. CONFLICTING VIEWS ON THE REEF
'IN CRISIS’ - WHAT WWF-AUSTRALIA AND THE AUSTRALIAN MARINE CONSERVATION SOCIETY SAY
‘The Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (the Reef) is in crisis. Since its inscription on the World Heritage List in 1981 the condition of the Reef has seriously declined, with the declines accelerating in the past decade despite management measures aimed at increasing the Reef’s level of protection and reducing fishing and pollution pressures. The Australian community is looking to the World Heritage Committee to maintain a watching brief and exert influence on the Australian and Queensland governments to implement the transformational management changes required now to halt and reverse the decline in the Reef’s health and resilience.’ – Report to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee by WWF-Australia and the Australian Marine Conservation Society, January 30 th , 2014
‘LARGELY INTACT’ - WHAT THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT SAYS
‘Australia does not consider that the GBRWHA warrants inclusion on the List of World Heritage in Danger, as the property’s Outstanding Universal Value and integrity remain largely intact and Australia is taking corrective action and has demonstrated substantial progress and commitment in responding to the requests of the World Heritage Committee and to mission recommendations. – Australian Government’s State Party Report on the State of Conservation of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (Australia), January 31 st , 2014
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3. OUR CAMPAIGN HAS AT LEAST A YEAR TO RUN
The timing of our campaign is deliberately focused on mid-2015, the ultimate point for the World Heritage Committee to decide if the Reef should be declared as 'World Heritage in Danger', because this is the designated end of a 3-year assessment process that began after a UNESCO-IUCN fast-finding mission to the Great Barrier Reef in 2012.
As it did in 2013, the meeting of the World Heritage Committee in Qatar this month is likely to postpone a final decision until next year, asking the Australian Government for further information and actions. Thus, according to our plan, 1 Million Women has a year to mobilise a million women and girls to stand up for protection of the Reef and highlight the importance of this issue to the World Heritage Committee.
We are not alone in pushing to save the Reef, but we are the key campaign targeting women across Australia and globally!
Read last weeks Reef Brief by clicking here .
We are urging the World Heritage Committee to protect the Great Barrier Reef by officially declaring it ‘World Heritage in Danger’. We are taking this message to the 3 key international decision-makers who ail influence the fate of the Reef. This is the most powerful action we can take to ensure its protection.
Please add your name to support this action.
