Great Barrier Reef Threatened by Australia's Mining Boom

The Great Barrier Reef is under threat because of the mining boom in Australia, according to the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS).

The largest coral reef in the world is one of the most popular destinations for scuba diving holidays but the Australian and Queensland governments are failing to protect the marine environment because of the rush to ship coal and gas across the reef.

Image by ©haddock (away), on Flickr.

Daisy Barham, a Marine Campaigner with the Australian Marine Conservation Society, said: "The 1979 ban on oil drilling in the Great Barrier Reef should have reassured Australians that the Reef was protected from mining development, but instead in 2011 the impacts of the mining industry have rarely been more severe."

Over the past four decades, AMCS has been campaigning to protect the World Heritage Great Barrier Reef, and the organisation's efforts have secured a total ban on oil mining and exploration within the marine park since 1979.

Barham explained: "With at least six major port developments underway or in the pipeline along the Great Barrier Reef coast, the Australian Government now needs to decide if the resources boom is to spell bust for the marine life that makes our reef the envy of the world. Massive industrial development has no place in a World Heritage Area."

Image by modelmeemaw, on Flickr.

Industrial developments are risking the lives of endangered turtles, dugongs and dolphins of the Great Barrier Reef, and over recent months there has been a decline in turtle and dugong numbers, plus an outbreak of diseased fish in the Gladstone Harbour.

"World Heritage listing brings global responsibility. The Federal and Queensland governments must now step up to the mark and work in the best interests of the future of our living icon, the Great Barrier Reef," said Barham.

She concluded: "There must be a halt to the approval of any new major developments that risk the reef until the strategic assessment of the impacts of those developments has been conducted. The Curtis Island development and associated dredging of Gladstone Harbour must be halted until the UNESCO World Heritage Committee has had the chance to fully scrutinise the threat it poses to the outstanding marine life of the Reef."

Image by hopemeng, on Flickr p>

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the leading scuba diving destinations in the world and every year, thousands of diving enthusiasts take scuba diving holidays to Australia's north east coast to explore the turquoise ocean waters that are teeming with magnificent marine creatures.

While scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef, divers can swim alongside sea turtles, whales, dolphins, porpoises, sharks, stingrays, seahorses, clown fish, snapper and over four hundred species of vibrant hard and soft corals.