Paris - Unesco has threatened to list the Great Barrier Reef in Australia as a World Heritage in Danger site, amid controversy over a plan to dump dredged sediment. Reef authorities granted permission for the dumping in January as part of a project to create one of the world's biggest coal ports.
But scientists have warned that the sediment could smother or poison coral. Unesco said given "significant threats" to the reef, it should be considered for inclusion on the danger list. The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral structure, rich in marine life. It stretches for more than 2,600km (1,680 miles) along Australia's eastern coast.
The dumping is part of a major development that would allow several companies to export coal reserves from the Galilee Basin area through the Abbot Point port. Abbot Point lies south of Townsville on the Queensland coast. Late last year, the government approved an application for the coal terminal to be expanded. The dredging is needed to allow ships into the port. The approved disposal site for the dredged sediment is located approximately 25km (16 miles) east-north-east of the port, inside the marine park.
The disposal operation would be "subject to strict environmental conditions", the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority said when it approved the plan. But the plan remains highly controversial. In its report, Unesco said that the Abbot Point dumping plan was "noted with concern".
"Indeed, this was approved, despite an indication that less impacting disposal alternatives may exist," the report pointed out. More widely, it said that a long-term plan for sustainable development due to be completed by Australia by 2015 had to result in "concrete and consistent management measures sufficiently robust to ensure the overall conservation" of the reef.
In particular, it had to address major drivers of reef decline "such as water quality and climate change, and the need to constrain coastal development and associated activities". (FA)