well this is the single largest investment in reef restoration and management in Australia's history the money will go towards improving water quality working with farmers to prevent sediment nitrogen and pesticide runoff into the reef ensuring that we tackle the crown-of-thorns starfish which is a natural predators of the coral and has done enormous damage over the last three decades and using the best available science to ensure that our coral is resilient to heat stress and to light stress will be working with traditional owners will be working with the tourist industry will be working with farmers and
most importantly of all we working with scientists to ensure that we give the reef the best possible future so some of this may then will go directly to farmers to modify their practices absolutely working closely with farmers to modify their practices to ensure that the reef doesn't get the large amounts of sediment nitrogen and pesticide runoff which is so damaging to coral and which helps breed this crown of thorns and starfish are you saying the biggest threat posed to the reef at the moment is contamination from agriculture and from urban development rather than global warming
I've always said the biggest threat to the reef is climate change we've seen right across the world a number of reefs being hit by this heat stress and this is combined here in Australia with also cyclone Debbie as well as the crown-of-thorns starfish so you've got lots of things happening at once all of which are damaging to the reef that is why we need a full-court press this is why the announcement today is such a game-changer it will help secure the reefs future for generations to come so as well as that money directed towards farmers
to modify their practices you're also saying some of them will go into science to perhaps find adaptions for coral that would be more resilient to climate change absolutely millions of dollars will go into science and to better data management and to be able to test the impacts on the reef we are looking at a whole range of new initiatives are taking the best advice of the experts working closely with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to ensure that the reef has its best chance into the future that's why today's announcement has been hailed by
the tourist operators by the traditional owners by those experts in the field Minister you've been out the reef yourself you've taken that look at it do you get the feeling that that some of the damage on the roof is irreparable look I'm told by the experts that the roof can be remarkably resilient that after a bleaching event and let's not forget the first bleaching event goes back to 1998 and we've had significant bleaching events in 2016 and 2017 that we can see the corals start to come back in five to ten years after that indeed
in the three in the years leading up to the bleaching event in 2016 we saw the coral cover increased by 19% so the reef is resilient and it's important to tell the world that this is so the reef supports some 64,000 jobs over six billion dollars it is work to the economy and it attracts more than 2 million visitors a year so it's a natural and national and international icon and that is why we are so determined to preserve it for future generations you
