The ABC’s Stephanie Smail reports (10.3.16) on claims by reef scientist, Terry Hughes, that the growing number of threats to the health of the Great Barrier Reef are overwhelming the agencies tasked with protecting it.
‘Threats to the Great Barrier Reef have outgrown the agencies in charge of protecting it, a leading coral reef expert has warned.
‘The Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies Professor Terry Hughes has addressed a forum at the World Science Festival in Brisbane.
‘He said when the Great Barrier Reef Marine Party Authority (GBRMPA) was first established “it was in charge of almost everything that went on within the boundaries of a piece of real estate the size of Italy”.
‘”It [used to] deal with the problems on the ground. Today the problems have outgrown the agency”.’