Our Reef is one of the most magnificent and iconic natural wonders on Earth. It should be cherished and protected. However, the Reef faces multiple threats. Global warming, water pollution, and unsustainable fishing practices have put the Reef at great risk. We can save the Reef, but we have to act now.
Water pollution including chemicals and sediment from farms, pollute our Reef, harming inshore seagrasses and corals that provide food and habitat for threatened wildlife like dugongs, turtles, and dolphins.
Chemicals from farms are draining into our Reef waters and causing algal blooms that reduce sunlight for seagrasses and corals to grow. Mud, loose silt, and soil particles flow from farms into the inshore areas of the Reef and smother corals and seagrasses.
In 2019, the Queensland government strengthened Reef laws after decades of inaction by farmers and graziers to stop water pollution.
The majority of farmers follow water pollution laws and do the right thing, however, a small minority of farmers have not changed their practices so the last resort is law enforcement with strong monitoring and penalties.
Together, we can keep the Reef healthy but we need farmers to do the right thing by adopting cleaner, more profitable practices, and for those who don’t change, we need to enforce pollution laws.
Add your signature to the petition today to tell the Queensland Government to enforce water quality laws to stop pollution from damaging our Reef.
Image by Matt Curnock. Support for the aerial footage was provided by TropWATER JCU, the Marine Monitoring Program – Inshore Water Quality through the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the Queensland Government, the Landholders Driving Change project led by NQ Dry Tropics, CSIRO, and the National Environmental Science Program Tropical Water Quality Hub.