$15.1m cash splash to bolster reef conservation, tourism
A two-pronged, $15.1m cash splash will help drive international visitation and bolster conservation efforts by engaging those who know the reef best. Find out how it will work here.
Cairns
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In a two-pronged cash splash aimed at bolstering both conservation and tourism, $15.1m will flow to reef operators in Far North Queensland.
“An investment in the reef is an investment in regional communities right along the Queensland coast,” Special Envoy to the Great Barrier Reef Senator Nita Green said.
The funds will help drive international visitation and support tourism operators coming out the back end of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Along with helping them draw tourists back to the reef the funding will also enhance the scope of monitoring and conservation of the reef.
“It gives a tremendous amount of confidence moving forward in what is quite an uncertain economic time,” Quicksilver Group environment and compliance manager Doug Baird said.
“It'll mean we can plan for events moving forward as well as assist in collecting environmental information for research.”
Brian Hennessy from Sunlover Cruises cited the timeliness of the funding injection as the world gets on the move again.
“Having travelled overseas this year to all of our major markets, I know how important this money is going to be to get Cairns and the reef back on the menu,” Mr Hennessy said.
“This money will allow us to compete really strongly with other markets around the world.”
Tourism Tropical North Queensland CEO Mark Olsen welcomed the funding for the initiatives to further tourism stewardship of the reef.
“Reef operators have been looking after the world heritage area for decades and programs like the crown-of-thorns starfish control have emerged thanks to their work to stop the spread of this marine pest,” Mr Olsen said.
“This funding assistance will help our operators to continue these important activities and spend time monitoring the health of the reef to assist with research.”
The initiatives span an array of operators from island-based to long range expedition-style operations, including small-to-medium size businesses to large multifaceted marine tourism operations.
Perry Jones is the owner of Ocean Free and Ocean Freedom, who run cruises on the reef.
“We have lots of moorings out there but one in particular is a real jewel in the crown and it’s going to allow us to survey the entire reef from 30m down to the flats,” he said.
“It’s a beautiful reef and we really want to keep it that way.”
Programs will include reef health monitoring, facilitation of on-country visits, crown of thorns starfish control, drupella snail removal, reef education resources, multi-language and interpreted content to enhance visitor experience to the reef, as well as site-intervention activities such as coral gardening.
“The stewardship provided by these operators in close partnership with the Reef Authority, will provide improved reef health monitoring capacity, conservation, and protection activities across the great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area,” Senator Green said
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Originally published as $15.1m cash splash to bolster reef conservation, tourism
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