Great Barrier Reef PR blitz after UNESCO ruling
The Queensland government will go on PR blitz to lure more tourists to the Great Barrier Reef after UNESCO's World Heritage Committee confirmed the natural wonder would not be placed on its endangered list.
Although widely anticipated following UNESCO's draft decision in late May, the final verdict on the fate of the Great Barrier Reef was welcomed with relief by the state government and federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt.
"What we've got now is unanimous and overwhelming support for the reef, support for what Australia's doing and this has been one of the great enivoronmental outcomes for Australia," Mr Hunt said from Bonn, Germany, where the UNESCO meeting was being held.
The Queensland government is going on a PR blitz to lure tourists back to the Great Barrier Reef. Getty Images
"The reef is not on anybody's watch list. Australia is being held up to the rest of the world for dealing with the complex challenges facing the great coral reefs of the globe."
But in a sign of the reputational damage done to the Great Barrier Reef over the UNESCO ruling, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and state Environment Minister Kate Jones on Thursday launched a social media campaign to help bring tourists to the state.
"We want to spread the word across the globe - the reef is a living treasure which is safe in our hands, and which international visitors should experience first hand," Ms Palalszczuk said.
The Great Barrier Reef is worth $6 billion a year to the Queensland economy, attracting 1.9 million visitors each year and supporting almost 700,000 jobs.
After the UNESCO victory, the federal and state government will now have to implement the promised plans to improve water quality and enforce the ban on dredging in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
Australia will have to provide an update on the Reef 2050 strategy in 2017, ahead of a five-year review in 2020.
Environmental groups said the Queensland and federal government had been given a final warning about the protection of the reef, saying Australia could be back on the endangered list by 2020 if things don't improve.
"Australia is on probation and the real work to turn around the decline of the Reef starts now," said WWF-Australia chief executive Dermot O'Gorman.
"This decision acknowledges Australia's recent promises to strengthen protection of the Reef, but makes it clear that promises alone will not be enough. The World Heritage Committee wants hard evidence that Australia is delivering outcomes in coming years."
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