Tourism body says listing Reef as in-danger counter-productive

Tourism authorities are appealing against the listing of the Great Barrier Reef as “in-danger” by the World Heritage Committees

As the Great Barrier Reef sustains its fourth recorded mass coral bleaching event, tourism authorities are appealing against its listing as “in-danger” by the World Heritage Committee.

Members of the United Nations committee are expected to be in Townsville this weekend as part of a mission to assess the Reef’s state of conservation and protection.

They will likely visit reefs off Townsville where the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority has found the most severe bleaching has occurred.

But Townsville Enterprise and tourism operators like Magnetic Island’s Stephanie Hinks say an “in-danger” listing will be counter-productive, likely lead to more regulation and deter tourism which helps pay for the reef’s protection.

“We are calling for the UN not to put the GBR on the in-danger list simply because the in-danger listing through the UN is not the right mechanism to combat the reef’s greatest challenge which is indeed climate change,” Townsville Enterprise tourism manager Lisa Woolfe said.

“Climate change is a global issue. What we might see out of an in-danger listing is simply additional local regulation and restrictions put in place that doesn’t, at the end of the day, fix the overarching problem.”

Lisa Woolfe and Stephanie Hinks say listing of the reef as in-danger will be counter-productive.

Ms Wolfe said a listing which deterred people from visiting the Reef could impact the flow of environmental management charge funds which supported its protection.

“In some circumstances it will actually be detrimental to the Reef,” Ms Woolfe said.

Master Reef Guide and owner of Magnetic Island tourism business Aquascene Charters Stephanie Hinks said reef tourism already was struggling after two years of Covid-induced shutdowns where visitor numbers had more than halved.

“Listing would be really, really damaging to people’s perceptions of the Great Barrier Reef. When people think about something as in danger I feel they think it’s broken and it’s dead. When we get that perception, we don’t really want to care anything more about it,” Ms Hinks said.

Australian Marine Conservation Society GBR campaign manager Dr Lissa Schindler said she felt for tourism operators who had suffered during the pandemic but that tourism authorities should be asking the Morrison Government to do more on climate change.

Dr Schindler said the government had done the opposite, announced funding this week to fast track gas projects.

The World Heritage Committee will be in Australia until March 30 and is expected to make a decision in mid-2022.

Originally published as Tourism body says listing Reef as in-danger counter-productive