Publications

PDF files

• Great Barrier Reef Water Quality Protection Plan Annual Report 2004-2005 (PDF - 828 KB)
• Great Barrier Reef Water Quality Protection Plan Annual Report 2004-2005 - Appendix 2 (PDF - 449 KB)

Executive summary

The Great Barrier Reef (the Reef) is a nationally and internationally significant area with outstanding natural, social and economic values. Extensive modification within the Reef catchment since the beginning of European settlement has led to significant increases in pollutants (sediments, nutrients and chemicals) in waterways entering the Reef. While the vast majority of the 2900 reefs that make up the Reef are in good condition, this pollution threatens inshore reefs and ecosystems.

Single issue-based actions or policies by individual organisations are no longer an effective way to protect the Reef from this threat. The challenge now is to change behaviour in order to reduce risks to the Reef's ecological health. Changing behavior is a widespread responsibility, not simply governments' responsibility.

In response to this challenge, the Australian and Queensland Governments, in partnership with a wide range of industry and community groups, developed the Reef Water Quality Protection Reef Plan (the Reef Plan). The Reef Plan was launched in December 2003 with a focus on actions to address pollutants from diffuse sources through an integrated natural resource management approach.

The Reef Plan requires agencies to provide annual reports on progress towards the goal and objectives of the Reef Plan to their respective Ministers. This report is the second report of this kind for the Reef Plan. It notes the progress and major investments made during 2004-05 against four focus areas and details the achievements against each of the nine strategies that support the focus areas.

Key highlights from the 2004-05 report include:

• implementation of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority's integrated Reef Marine Monitoring Program. During 2004-05 $2 million was spent benchmarking the main environmental and ecosystem variables and establishing the monitoring program to measure changing trends in water quality and ecosystem health of the Reef
• accreditation of regional natural resource management plans and regional investment strategies within the catchments opposite the Great Barrier Reef. These plans identify targets for the regions' natural resource management and detail catchment-wide activity in land and water management, biodiversity and agricultural practices
• approval of funding under the Australian Government Coastal Catchments Initiative for the development and implementation of water quality improvement plans in the following catchments:
  • Tully and Barron (Far North Queensland Natural Resource Management Board)
  • Burdekin (Burdekin Dry Tropics Board)
  • Proserpine, O'Connell, Pioneer and Plane (MWnRM)
  • Burnett (Burnett Mary Regional NRM Group)
• investment of $1.3 million in the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality State-wide Investment Program. This program is lead by the NR&M and supports the development of tools and information products to assist the management of salinity and water quality in NAP regions through five key areas: agriculture, salinity, capacity building, water quality, and social and economic
• roll-out of Farm Management Systems by the Queensland Farmers' Federation. The Farm Management Systems concept is a voluntary, property and business level management process producers use to identify and manage risks, particularly environmental risk, that may occur as a result of their farming operation
• development of the AgForward program by AgForce. The Queensland Government has provided AgForce with $8 million to deliver AgForward, which will assist land holders within the broadacre industries of cattle, grain, sheep and wool to improve their land management practices
• continued support from the Australian Government for the Fertcare program. During 2004-05, a trial training program was conducted within the catchments of the Reef, which provided participants with a detailed and complex knowledge of environmental issues, product stewardship and food safety issues. It also assessed the competency of the adviser in providing nutrient recommendations
• roll-out of the Queensland Wetlands Programme, including funding for the following projects:
  • developing a wetland prioritisation decision support system
  • investigating the adoption of programs and incentives relevant to wetlands conservation
  • mapping and classifying Queensland's wetlands and providing a wetland inventory database
  • preparing wetland management profiles
  • establishing the Understanding Queensland Wetlands: An Information Review and Gap Analysis project
• funding by the Australian Government for a consortium lead by the Conservation Volunteers Australia to deliver a pilot program for on-ground delivery of wetland conservation using a number of mechanisms, such as voluntary conservation agreements and incentive packages.