WWF-Australia Annual Report 2011

CASE StuDY
Saving the Great Barrier Reef
Pollution, poor fishing practices and climate change
threaten one of the world’s greatest marine assets – the
Great Barrier Reef. However, WWF is supporting a range
of practical, legislative and scientific measures that are
bringing urgent relief.
Through Project Catalyst, WWF is promoting cutting-edge
farming practices that both reduce pollution and improve
productivity. We are working with sugarcane growers
responsible for more than 15,000 hectares to cut fertiliser
and pesticide use, and ensure cleaner water run-off to the reef.
This farming initiative boosts the Reef Rescue program that
WWF has been helping to roll out since 2007 – a program
that now involves some 3,600 farms spanning 1.2 million
hectares. Efforts to cut reef pollution have seen more than
2,000 kilometres of new fencing erected to minimise erosion,
and 562,000 hectares of land converted to nature refuges.
Reforms to Australia’s pesticide laws, announced this
year after concerted WWF advocacy, will invigorate these
practical efforts. New government policy puts the onus
back on the pesticide industry to prove its chemicals
are safe. WWF has also helped to secure a $175 million
government reform package to ban outdated farm chemical
practices, increase farmer assistance and invest in worldleading
pollution monitoring and reporting. At least 2,600
farmers have improved their management of an estimated
12 million hectares as a result.
At the scientific level, WWF is working along the Great
Barrier Reef coast with local communities, Traditional
Owners, government and James Cook University staff
to learn more about the dangerous fibropapilloma virus
threatening young green turtles. Our team is monitoring
and tagging turtles, and supporting research into
water quality and turtle health to find a solution to this
emerging threat.
Green turtle sampling, Cardwell, Qld © Jurgen Freund