Shipping and the Great Barrier Reef Essay -- Trade Nature Conservation

Shipping and the extensive Barrier reef Australias Great Barrier get down (GBR) is an unparalleled marine ecosystem that holds rank as superstar of the worlds most valuable natural wonders. The abundance of ocean life offers both intrinsic and physical benefits, but unfortunately this odd habitat is now threatened from several different angles. One of the great threats to the GBR is the presence of popular shipping routes which surround and penetrate the reef. These ships naturally congest the GBR, but the severest danger lies in the possibility of wrecks spilling oil or opposite hazardous cargos. History offers many examples of shipwrecks with outcomes that could have been devastating although there has not yet been a major disaster. These events have helped to inspire various regulations aiming to govern the risk of any major incident. Nevertheless, there still remains more(prenominal) room for protective measures in order to insure the safety of much(prenominal) an irreplaceable treasure.The Great Barrier Reef The GBR formed about 9,000 long time ago during the last interglacial period. As with other coral reefs, it is based upon the social organisation of billions of coral polyps, and the GBR is the longest coral reef system ever to exist. It is hence the largest structure created by living creatures and so massive that it can be viewed from outer space (Guynup p.22). The GBR includes 2,900 separate reefs and hundreds various islands and cays. The GBR stretches over 2,000 kilometers up the slideway of Queensland. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP), established in 1975, includes nearly 350,000 square kilometers, which is over half the area covered by all of the protected areas in mainland Australia (Chadwick and Storrie p.1, CRC p.1).... ...w.gbrmpa.gov.au/Guynup, Sharon. 2000. Australias Great Barrier Reef. recognition World, 57(1) 22-23.Johns, Gary. 2002. The Four Corners of the Reef Investigative Journalism or Enviro nmental Activism. impart of Public Affairs, 54(2) 10-11.Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, Protection of the Great Barrier Reef Report of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Environment and Conservation, November 1985. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra 1985.Queensland Transport News Maritime base hit Legislation Passed by Parliament, 31 July 2002.Queensland Transport & the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Oil Spill Risk Assessment for the coastal Waters of Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park fantastic 2000.Wright, Judith, The Coral Battleground. Thomas Nelson, Melbourne 1977.