The Australian government has approved the plan of throwing about three million cubic meters of dredge spoil to Great Barrier Reef Park. A planned expansion of Abbot Point's coal port will produce the said dredged litter.
After the final go-signal from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), albeit with mitigating circumstances indicated loosely as "strict conditions" to which the action will be subjected to, environmental activists like Greenpeace have expressed their opposition. However, this did not stop Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt to approve it last month.
The Australian government under Tony Abbott has been a constant reaper of criticisms for the environmental decisions that they have made including the overturn of the expansion of Tasmania's forest reserve which has landed a spot in UNESCO's World Heritage Site list in 1981. Environmentalists saw the project as unfeasible and injurious in the long run.
Being the largest living structure, the Great Barrier Reef houses a diverse ecosystem boasting of 2,300 kilometers along the Queensland coast. Thousands of species have taken up residence in the reef, a vast array of fish, coral, whales and sharks. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority argued that it was in accordance to the directive to restrict port development on the coast to present facilities.
"It's important to note the seafloor of the approved disposal area consists of sand, silt and clay and does not contain coral reefs or seagrass beds." GBRPMA said in a statement.
Bruce Elliot, the General Manager for Biodiversity, Conservation and Sustainable Use furthers that the safety nets totaling to 47 would not endanger the reef in any way. WWF Australia begged to differ, as its spokesman Richard Leck described this approval to CNN as a "sad day for the reef and anyone who cares about its future."
Greenpeace backs up Leck expressing fear that this maneuver may pave the path towards the endangerment of the reef this year. The organization's Reef Campaigner Louise Matthiesson wrote on their website, "This go-ahead for dumping is one more body blow for the Reef which further threatens marine life, its World Heritage status and Australia's tourism and fishing industries."
