Australia to spend extra $500mn on Great Barrier Reef
Australia's Great Barrier Reef will receive a $500-million funding boost to restore water quality and protect the coral from attack by the crown-of-thorns starfish, government ministers announced on Sunday.
Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg said that some of the money would go directly to farmers to modify their practices, and for scientific research to build more resilient coral.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said regional countries looked to Australia's example as a world leader in reef management, as the Government's 2050 Plan was approved by the World Heritage Committee as being a standard for the rest of the world to follow.
A major outbreak of coral-eating crown of thorns starfish has been destroying areas of the world heritage listed reef, prompting a major cull in January. The outbreak has hit the reef after two consecutive years of major coral bleaching.
The Great Barrier Reef, which can be seen from space, covers 348,000 square kilometers and was world heritage listed in 1981 as the most extensive and spectacular coral reef ecosystem on the planet, according to the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) website.
(Source: Reuters)
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