Australia to Dump Dredged Sand in Great Barrier Reef Waters, Adding to Site's Mounting Woes
Dredging could jeopardize reef's World Heritage status, greens say.
This week's decision to dump dredged sand and silt in Great Barrier Reef waters has prompted warnings that the troubled ecological treasure is one step closer to a spot on World Heritage's "list of shame."
"We're going backwards on the reef—that's the sad truth," says WWF-Australia Reef Campaign Director Richard Leck.
Last year the World Heritage Committee (WHC) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) warned that without urgent management improvements, the Great Barrier Reef could land on its List of World Heritage in Danger by June 2014—a potential embarrassment and economic hit for Australia. The reef is important to the nation's economy in part because it is an important tourist destination.
This week WWF-Australia and the Australian
