Great Barrier Reef: Crown-of-Thorns Starfish Control Program receives $162m federal funding

The war against a destructive threat to a natural treasure has been boosted by millions from the Albanese government. What the program will achieve.

FUNDING for an eight-year, $162m program to exterminate the destructive crown-of-thorns starfish on Great Barrier Reef waters have been announced by Federal Labor.

Special Envoy for the Great Barrier Reef Senator Nita Green made the funding announcement from the Cairns Marlin Marina on Monday.

Assistant director of the Crown-of-Thorns Starfish Control Program David Williamson said the investment was the first time the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority had been able to secure ongoing money for the program since the cull began in 2012.

Experimental Scientist with the Australian Institute of Marine Science Jason Doyle with a crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) on Moore Reef. Picture: Brendan Radke

“That management is literally now suppressing outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish and protecting coral across hundreds of reef,” he said.

“And it’s an outstanding action for the reef, it’s creating real outcomes and it’s buying us a little bit of time in terms of coral protection until the earth and humanity can switch our course around and actually address global emissions.”

Currently 147 people are directly employed through the program that is run from seven vessels. Now battling the fourth COTS outbreak recorded since the 1980s, Mr Williamson said the team was now able to proactively manage outbreaks across the park.

Special Envoy for the Great Barrier Reef, Senator Nita Green made the funding announcement from the Cairns Marlin Marina.

“It’s over 700,000ha of area that we’ve directly managed,” he said.

“We’re in a position where we have to really take pragmatic, proven and seriously deployable actions to protect coral now. And that’s exactly what we’re doing with this program.”

Delivery of the program is in conjunction with existing partners the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, Reef and Rainforest Research Centre, the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

Anthony Albanese visited Cairns to announce Labor policy on the health of the Great Barrier Reef during the election campaign. Picture: Brendan Radke

Senator Green said the COTS Control Program was a proven effective tool in building reef resilience in the face of climate change.

“Protecting key coral reefs and tourism sites by expanding the Crown-of-Thorns Starfish Control Program not only benefits the Great Barrier Reef as a whole, but helps in securing the jobs of the many whose day-to-day livelihoods rely on a healthy and resilient reef,” Senator Green said.

Wider consultation includes Traditional Use of Marine Resource Agreements (TUMRA) groups, marine park tourism industry representatives and other research providers.

To date, more than 1.1m COTS have been culled on the Great Barrier Reef.

Follow @petercarruther1

Originally published as Great Barrier Reef: Crown-of-Thorns Starfish Control Program receives $162m federal funding