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Securing the future of the Great Barrier Reef

Nature Climate Change volume 5, pages 508–511 (2015)Cite this article

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The decline of the Great Barrier Reef can be reversed by improvements to governance and management: current policies that promote fossil fuels and economic development of the Reef region need to be reformed to prioritize long-term protection from climate change and other stressors.

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR), the world's largest coral reef system, has lost half of its coral cover over the past 40 years1,2,3. The latest five-yearly analysis of the condition of the GBR, released in August 2014, concluded that its condition is poor and deteriorating, and that reductions in all stressors are required to improve its state3. The Australian government has correctly identified climate change as the greatest threat to the GBR, although ironically Australia is the world's largest exporter of seaborne fossil fuels, and also has the world's highest per capita emissions of greenhouse gases. So far, global warming has triggered two major bouts of coral bleaching on the GBR, in 1998 and 2002, causing extensive and widespread loss of corals4, and there is growing concern for the future impacts of inevitable ocean acidification, extreme weather events and rising sea levels3. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has expressed concern over the decline of the outstanding universal value of the GBR World Heritage Area (WHA), particularly from the rapid industrialization of the Queensland coastline and the development of ports for export of unprecedented amounts of fossil fuels. The World Heritage Committee is threatening to place the GBR on the World Heritage 'In Danger' list in 20155. Here we briefly outline why the GBR is in decline and provide recommendations for securing its future in the face of rapid climate change that are broadly applicable to coral reefs and many natural WHAs worldwide.

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Figure 1: Long term changes in drivers or stressors affecting the Great Barrier Reef.
Figure 2: The GBR contains a globally significant population of dugong, which is a key element of its outstanding universal value.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Terry P. Hughes and Jon C. Day are at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia,

    Terry P. Hughes & Jon C. Day

  2. Jon Brodie is at the Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic Ecosystem Research, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia,

    Jon Brodie

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  1. Terry P. Hughes
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  3. Jon Brodie
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Correspondence to Terry P. Hughes.

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Hughes, T., Day, J. & Brodie, J. Securing the future of the Great Barrier Reef. Nature Clim Change 5, 508–511 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2604

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