REEF TRUST NEWS
Issue 2 – August 2015
Welcome back!
What’s been happening?
At a glance:
Reef 2050 Plan
Earlier this year the Reef 2050 Plan was
released, providing the overarching framework
for protecting and managing the Great Barrier
Reef from 2015 to 2050. The Reef Trust is one
of the key mechanisms to assist in the delivery
of the Plan.
Additional Funding for the Reef Trust
In addition to the initial $40 million provided by
the Australian Government, a further
$100 million in new funding for the Reef Trust
was committed by the Government through the
2015-16 Budget to tackle the key challenges
facing the reef.
World Heritage Committee Decision
At its July 2015 meeting in Bonn, Germany, the
World Heritage Committee unanimouisly
decided not to place the Great Barrier Reef on
its world heritage in-danger list. The Committee
praised Australia’s strong efforts and approach
to protect and manage the reef, particularly
thought the development of the Reef 2050 Plan.
Reef 2050 Plan Independent Expert Panel
The Panel will provide independent scientific
advice to the Australian and Queensland
goverments, including advice on the
implementation of the Reef 2050 Plan, Reef
Water Quality Protection Plan and the Reef
Trust. It is chaired by the Commonwealth Chief
Scientist, Professor Ian Chubb and its members
represent a broad cross-section of scientific
expertise in areas relevant to managing key
threats to the Great Barrier Reef.
Reef 2050 Advisory Committee
The Committee will provide strategic advice on
the implementation of Reef 2050 actions,
stakeholder priorities, and highlight any
emerging cross sectoral issues that need to be
addressed.The inaugural Chair is Ms Penelope
Wensley AC, former governor of Queensland.
More information about the Reef 2050 advisory
bodies, including Terms of Reference, is
available on our website.
Phase II Investment
A second phase of investment through the Reef Trust was
announced by the Australian Government in March 2015. If
you missed it, be sure to visit our website for all the details,
including the prioritisation process undertaken to determine
these investments.The projects being delivered through
Phase II complement existing actions being delivered across
the reef regions by government, industry, natural resource management bodies, landholders
and the community. An update on each of the three Phase II projects is below.
Gully erosion control in priority grazing landscapes
This project will provide financial incentives through a competitive
grants process to one or multiple Delivery Partners to apply costeffective gully remediation techniques, guided by the latest available
scientific information, to reduce sediment losses through erosion.
The $5.4 million project will run from 2015 to 2018 and will trial gully
remediation techniques in areas where gully erosion is extensive,
active and delivering high rates of sediment to the coast. A Technical
Partner has been contracted to assist the Reef Trust team in the
project’s development and will work with Delivery Partners (once
contracted) for the implementation period.
We anticipate that the project Application period will open in October 2015. Watch this space!
Reef Trust Tender –Burdekin
The second competitive tender (reverse auction) to be run through the
Reef Trust will engage cane farmers in the Burdekin to improve nutrient
and water management practices on their farms and reduce fertiliser
run-off entering the reef lagoon.
The Burdekin region contributes the second largest amount of
dissolved inorganic nitrogen to the reef lagoon (second only to the Wet
Tropics), a majority of which is from cane lands. The 2013 Scientific
Consensus Statement on Water Quality in the Great Barrier Reef
identifies the Burdekin as the highest ranked of the six reef natural
resource management regions for overall risk to seagrass and fourth
highest for overall risk to coral reefs.
We anticipate the tender will open to farmers towards the end of 2015 with successful applicants
contracted in March 2016. Watch this space!
Crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) control
The Australian Government has contributed $17.5 million since June
2012 to the ongoing management of COTS including funding for direct
action through removal of COTS from high value tourist reefs, research
and dedicated surveillance to inform improvement in COTS
management, and activities to increase industry and community
awareness.
This investment is being delivered in partnership with the Great Barrier
Reef Marine Park Authority and the Reef and Rainforest Centre and will
continue the tactical control of COTS outbreaks on high value tourist
reefs over a period of three years (from 2015 to 2018). The project will
coordinate and deliver COTS culling activities. Dedicated monitoring and surveillance will be
undertaken to inform the development of a COTS integrated pest management programme, provide
data for the Eye-on-the-reef monitoring database and monitoring and reporting processes, and
facilitate ongoing improvements in COTS management.
Photo: (from top) Arthur Mostead, Andy Heaney, Cathy Zwick
Phase I Investments
Seven projects are being delivered through the first phase of Reef Trust, improving
water quality and protecting vulnerable species such as dugongs and turtles. This
includes a strategic crown-of-thorn starfish control project, a reverse auction in the
Wet Tropics to reduce nitrogen runoff from cane farming, the promotion of A-class
grazing practises in the Burdekin and Fitzroy regions and four Dugong and Turtle
Protection Plan projects.
These investments and the design of Reef Trust were captured in an initial
Investment Strategy, available on our website.
A case study
Marine Debris Clean-up
.
Marine debris is any rubbish that finds its way into the marine
environment, including glass or plastic bottles, cigarette butts,
plastic bags, fishing gear such as line, ropes, hooks, and buoys and
other materials lost or discarded on or near land or at sea.
Through the first phase of Reef Trust investment, the Australian
Government is providing $700,000 over two years to the Great
Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to manage a Marine Debris
Clean-Up across the reef catchment. This will protect turtles and
dugongs, as well as other species through minimising the volume
and source of marine debris in and entering the Great Barrier Reef
lagoon.
In April 2015, Tangaroa Blue Foundation coordinated a post-cyclone
Marcia clean-up over four days along 17 kilometres of impacted
coastline in the Yeppoon area. Fragments of hard plastic and a
derelict catamaran were among more than 5 tonnes of marine
debris cleared from local beaches, preventing the debris from
heading back to sea.
Great Barrier Reef catchment-wide clean-up events will be taking
place from 23 – 25 October 2015. Reef Guardian Schools and
Councils, Traditional Owner groups, the Tourism Industry and the
broader community will have the opportunity to participate in these
events.
Next Steps...
Future investment prioritisation
At the first meeting of the Reef 2050 Plan Independent Expert Panel (IEP) on 10
August 2015, members endorsed an approach to the development of the next
two phases of Reef Trust investment. The primary focus of these two phases
will be improving water quality, including the two themes of reducing nutrient
run-off from intensive agriculture and reducing sediment run-off from erosion
hotspots across the catchment. These themes remain the highest priorities
identified by scientists. Detailed scientific prioritisation information is available to
assist with the spatial targeting of investments to address these threats.
The IEP emphasised the need to continue to trial innovative approaches to
achieve widespread adoption of improved management practices and focus on
the most cost effective technologies to maximise progress towards the
ambitious Reef 2050 Plan targets. Panel members also stressed the importance
of continuing to assess project outcomes promptly to inform future investment
decisions across a range of timeframes.
Detailed project scoping documents in line with the agreed investment themes
and any other priority themes identified through stakeholder consultation, will be
developed by the Reef Trust team in close collaboration with IEP members, key
scientists and stakeholders. These project scopes will be considered at the
second IEP meeting, later this year. Where supported, project scopes will be
further developed for consideration by the Australian Government Environment
Minister.
The Australian and Queensland governments will continue to work closely
together to ensure their respective investments are coordinated and
complimentary. The IEP and the Queensland Government Water Quality
Taskforce will advise on the alignment of investments, assisted by the
overlapping membership of the two groups.
Offsets
Report on the Determination of suitable financial contributions as offsets within the Reef
Trust released
The Reef Trust is able to accept, after all reasonable efforts to avoid and mitigate impacts and
where conditioned, financial contributions from environmental approval holders who are
undertaking works which are expected to have a significant residual impact to the Great Barrier
Reef World Heritage Area and the values within it.
To ensure our offset funded projects deliver an environmental outcome and improve or maintain
the same attributes or values that are being impacted, we are taking a phased approach to
incorporating environmental offsets into the Reef Trust. One of the key steps to this approach
was our engagement of The Biodiversity Consultancy. Through their project, the Biodiversity
Consultancy examined options to ensure ecological, character, temporal, spatial and amount
equivalence, as well as mitigation of risk and uncertainty, approaches for determining financial
contribution amounts and auditing and monitoring approaches.
The Reef Trust will build on the findings of the paper to assist in the development of an
approach and methodology for the calculation of potential offset payments which is currently
being developed in partnership with several technical experts. A copy of the report will be
available on the Reef Trust website.
Consultation on draft policy statement on the use of advanced offsets under the EPBC
Act
The Australian Government has released a draft policy statement providing guidance on the use
of advanced offsets under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
Advanced environmental offsets are a supply of offsets for future use, transfer or sale by
proponents or offset providers. Unlike conventional offsets, which are generally put in place to
compensate for the residual adverse significant impacts of an action following approval,
advanced offsets are put in place before any impact occurs.
The draft policy statement is open for public comment to 12 October 2015.
We have an opportunity to work together
The Reef Trust is designed to be able to receive funding from a range of
sources, including funding received through private investments and
philanthropic contributions. This reflects a growing trend amongst investors and
philanthropists to be involved with projects that promote ecologically
sustainable development. The Reef Trust is currently investigating the viability
of a range of innovative financial mechanisms which would deliver
environmental outcomes for the Reef and provide investors the opportunity to
invest in such projects.
If you are interested in contributing to the achievements of the Reef Trust or
would like to hear more about the kind of projects that you could invest in, we
want to hear from you! Please contact us at reef2050@environment.gov.au.
Look out for... our new logo!
The protection and management
of the Great Barrier Reef’s marine
biodiversity, including species such
as dugongs and turtles, is a key
priority under the Reef Trust. The
dugong has been chosen as a
representative of the broader
efforts to reduce pressures and
protect the iconic Great Barrier
Reef The logo can be featured
alongside the Australian Government crest in materials (including reporting,
publications and promotional materials) for all funding and activities delivered
through the Reef Trust. Branding guidelines will be provided to all our current
project partners in the coming weeks.
Did you know?

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on earth.

The Great Barrier Reef covers 348,000km2 and is roughly the same size as Italy.

The Great Barrier Reef is one of Australia’s first World Heritage Areas, inscribed on the
World Heritage List in 1981.

The Great Barrier Reef has been struck by the majority of the 207 known tropical cyclone
impacts to hit the east coast of Queensland since 1890 including:
-
Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi – 2011
-
Tropical Cyclone Monica – 2006
-
Tropical Cyclone Larry – 2006
-
Tropical Cyclone Ingrid = 2005
-
Tropical Cyclone Steve - 2000
-
Source: AG Bureau of Meteorology
Until next time!
from
the Reef Trust team, at the Department of the Environment
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© Commonwealth of Australia, 2015.
This Newsletter is licensed by Commonwealth of Australia under a Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 Australia licence.