WINTER 2007.qxd

4 NORD NEWS Winter 2007
The Great Barrier Reef is the "only" single "living organism" in the
world visible from the Earth's orbit. It was elected as a World
Heritage site in 1981 by UNESCO (United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization). It is more than 2,000 km
long and it is located on the East Coast of Australia. It contains the
world's largest collection of coral reefs being 400 different types,
1,500 fish species and 4,000 types of mollusc.
Corals make up the various reefs. These are the basis for the great variety of sea
and animal life in the Reef. Coral consists of individual coral polyps or living
creatures which live inside a shell and are joined together to form forests of
coloured coral. All these corals joined together have formed the Great Barrier
Reef.
It has been acknowledged that corals have been growing in the region for as
long as 25 million years but have not always formed coral "reefs". The Great
Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority believes that the current living reef
structure begun growing about 20,000 years ago. Reefs increase in diameter
from 1 to 2 centimetres per year and grow vertically anywhere from 1 to 15
centimetres per year. They are limited to growing above a depth of 150 metres
due to their need for sunlight and cannot grow above sea level.
The ideal environment for coral is shallow warm water that is salty with
low nutrients, plenty of water movement and a lot of light. The way to
distinguish between living and dead coral is that living coral is colorful and
dead coral is white.
Threats to the Reef and Measures for Protection
The Crown of Thorns starfish is one of the greatest dangers to the habitat. Since
the 1960's it has been destroying the corals and has a big impact on the
infestation of sea and bird life.
Shipping accidents are also a major concern as several commercial shipping
routes pass through the Great Barrier Reef. It is estimated that about 6000
vessels greater than 50 metres in length use the Great Barrier Reef as a route.
From 1985 - 2001, there were 11 collisions and 20 groundings on this route.
There have been over 1600 known shipwrecks in the Reef area including
Captain James Cook's ship Endeavour in 1770 and HMS Pandora in 1791.
In 1975 the Government of Australia created the Great Barrier Marine Park
and defined what activities were prohibited on the Reef. In July 2004, a
new zoning plan was brought into effect for the entire Marine Park
where the protected zones increased from 4.5% to over 33.3% being
the second largest protected area in the world after the Northwestern
Hawaiian Islands National Monument.
Since European settlement, the area of wetlands in the Great Barrier
Reef reservoir has decreased by over 50%. Wetland clearing and
drainage allows increasing levels of sediment and nutrient to enter the Great