Latest news with #GreatBarrierReef
SBS Australia
3 hours ago
- Science
- SBS Australia
Survey shows alarming loss of coral on Great Barrier Reef
It attracts millions of visitors to Australian shores every year, generates billions of dollars for the economy, and is home to nearly 9,000 species of - often spectacular and unique - marine life At more than 2,300 kilometres long, the Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system and is so big it can be seen from space. An annual survey of the Great Barrier Reef by the Australian Institute of Marine Science - or AIMS - has found the northern and southern sections of the reef suffered the largest annual decline in coral cover since reporting began 39 years ago. Last month, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee warned it may list the Great Barrier Reef as 'in danger' next year, citing its very poor outlook. 📢 Where to Catch SBS Filipino
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Why Bindi Irwin & Her Family Only Inherited $130K of Steve Irwin's $15M Fortune
Steve Irwin's death in 2006 in a freak accident with a stingray while filming in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia was shocking for fans, but the estate he left behind might be even more surprising. After his untimely passing, people were surprised to hear that his estate, estimated to be worth $15 million, per the New York Post, only left his wife, Terri, daughter Bindi, and son Robert with a little over $130,000. The relatively small amount of money, given his earnings, were from an insurance policy, per More from SheKnows Bindi Irwin's Daughter Grace Reveals Her Sassy Side (& the Cutest Aussie Accent!) in a New Video So, where did the rest of his money go? Well, most of his money was left to his passion project, the Australia Zoo. 'Everything was reinvested into conservation work,' Terri explained to the Australian Financial Review in July 2024. 'I was in debt … and Steve's life insurance, I think, was the sum total of $200,000, ($130,541 USD) which didn't even cover half of one week's payroll'. Despite those financial challenges, Steve had 'a 10-year business plan so a strategic path existed' for the zoo, and Terri was able to carry out that vision when the property was inherited by her. In addition to the zoo's success, Bindi and Robert became celebrities in their own right, following in their dad's conservation footsteps. They've become leaders in their industry and have even taken a twirl on the Dancing With the Stars ballroom — Bindi won Season 21 and Robert will be competing this fall for the Season 34 mirror-ball trophy. Bindi is moved by the support of their fans, who often visit the Australia Zoo in memory of Steve. 'I think that it does mean the world, because we are here with a message and a purpose, and our reasoning is to really spread that message of wildlife and conservation,' Bindi told People in May 2016. 'To have Dad's message reach so many people – that's exactly what we've always wanted, and it does mean everything.' While the situation after his death wasn't ideal for Terri and her family, they've come through strong in the end. Per Celebrity Net Worth, Bindi and Robert are worth $5 million each, while Terri is worth $20 million. Per the Australian Financial Review, the zoo is also in the black worth earning over $24 million per year — a conservative estimate — with a land value of almost $17 million. 'I pay my bills when they come in. I'm completely debt-free,' Terri told the Australian media outlet. 'I have expanded with the [lodge and restaurant] and overall, my head's above water.'Best of SheKnows 13 Famous Women You Totally Forgot Elvis Dated Celebrities Who Died Tragically Young: Kelley Mack, Lucy Markovic, & More Our Favorite Photos of Dazzling Couple JFK Jr. & Carolyn Bessette Solve the daily Crossword
The Guardian
2 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
‘If the reef had a voice, it would sing': could legal personhood help the Great Barrier Reef?
While patrolling the Great Barrier Reef, Gary Singleton was struck by an eerie stillness. The Coral Sea lay flat as glass beneath a heavy, windless sky. The heat was stifling, the water a little too warm. 'It was beautiful,' he says. 'But I remember thinking, 'I feel sorry for the reef.'' That moment stayed with him. A Yirrganydji traditional owner and land and sea manager in the Cairns-Port Douglas region, Singleton has spent more than 12 years working to protect the reef – as warming seas, sediment runoff, pollution and overfishing steadily erode its resilience. Just this week a report found a record drop in live coral in two out of three sections of the reef, prompting warnings that a tipping point for the ecosystem's future is approaching. 'My biggest fear is that we'll lose everything,' says Singleton, whose father, Gavin Singleton Sr, was also a sea ranger. 'It's a big part of our identity. We don't just think of the Great Barrier Reef as coral, we think of it as an entire system. A living thing.' As traditional owners like Singleton witness the reef's decline first-hand, some are beginning to ask a deeper question: what if the reef had the same legal rights as a person? Around the world, rivers, forests and mountains have been recognised as legal entities under a growing legal movement known as the 'rights of nature'. In the case of the Great Barrier Reef, the rights of nature model could recognise the world's largest coral system as a legal person: an entity capable of holding rights and having those rights defended in court. 'I've been quite interested in the concept of recognising the reef as its own living entity,' Singleton says. 'Like New Zealand, with some of the rivers and mountains being given[legal personhood] status. 'It's about separating the politics and all that outside noise and really giving the reef the respect it deserves as its own entity, its own being.' According to Dr Michelle Maloney, a lawyer and co-founder of the Australian Earth Laws Alliance, rights of nature laws could profoundly improve Australia's environmental governance system. 'Australian law, like most western legal systems, treats nature as human property: a collection of objects to be used, exploited or protected,' she says. 'In contrast, Aboriginal legal systems, some of the oldest continuous legal systems in the world, have always seen nature as alive. We have a lot to learn from Aboriginal law.' Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads Rights of nature encompasses different approaches to trying to extend new rights or protections to nature, through granting ecosystems or natural objects status as legal persons or living entities. Legal personhood is a legal construct that grants legal rights to entities. Living entity is a term that recognises something is in fact alive, not just an object, but being granted this status doesn't create a legal right. Maloney believes that granting the reef legal personhood could be relatively straightforward, if the political will were there. 'In theory, the government could pass a law that says the Great Barrier Reef is a legal entity and has rights to exist, thrive, evolve and continue its vital cycles,' she says 'And there are a number of different ways such a law could be implemented.' Under one model, guardians – including traditional owners and other stakeholders – would be appointed to act on the reef's behalf. 'It would mean a process that made sure all of the different First Nations people up and down the reef system could be guardians for their land and sea country.' she says. Maloney says this systemic change isn't just a tool for symbolism but for action: 'Let's say a container ship leaked oil. The reef's guardians could sue the company for damages on behalf of the reef. Guardians could also have a stronger voice in future planning to reduce activities that damage the reef.' The legal personhood model appeals to Victor Bulma, a Mandingalbay Yidinji man and marine park inspector who lives in Yarrabah, just south of Cairns. 'I would definitely support it,' he says. 'It is a great idea to give us some sort of rights and stuff. But yeah, that'd be a big hill to climb.' He has witnessed significant changes to the reef over his lifetime. But it's the changes to the coral he finds most alarming. 'Back when I was younger the reef was very, very colourful,' he says. 'It was paradise. Global warming plays a big part in the damage of it. Some parts of the reef are just grey.' Maloney believes legal personhood could give guardians like Bulma greater power to defend the reef from climate change. 'It's not just the elephant in the room, it's the elephant starting to crush us all,' she says. 'And we have a government that refuses to take it seriously and denies any duty of care.' She points to the federal court ruling in the Pabai case, which found the government has no duty of care to Torres Strait Islanders on climate change, as evidence of the system's failure. 'I'd like to think legal personhood would change things for the better. Because if the law says its guardians have a right to do all they can to protect the reef, then they should be able to force real change.' Internationally, the rights of nature movement is gaining momentum. Ecuador became the first country to enshrine the rights of nature in its constitution in 2008; since then, dozens of successful court cases have been brought on behalf of ecosystems. In Australia, Victoria passed legislation in 2017 recognising the Yarra River as a living entity, acknowledging its ecological value and cultural significance to the Wurundjeri people. Sign up to Five Great Reads Each week our editors select five of the most interesting, entertaining and thoughtful reads published by Guardian Australia and our international colleagues. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Saturday morning after newsletter promotion While New Zealand's Whanganui River was granted legal personhood as part of a Treaty of Waitangi settlement, the path is more complex in Australia. 'There are no treaties between First Nations people and the British or Australian governments, and Aboriginal people have fewer triggers in the law to insist on their rights,' Maloney says. 'That makes it a little harder. Not impossible, but harder.' For Singleton, who spends his days restoring coral and seagrass, monitoring marine life and planting trees along the coastline, the need to protect the reef is undeniable. 'The thing is, the reef's threats are cumulative … you can't single out one thing,' he says. 'The entire ecosystem needs protecting. Our elders have always seen the reef holistically.' He hopes the concept of legal personhood can help reframe public thinking, not just about damage, but about responsibility. 'As people, we are benefiting from the reef – socially, economically and culturally,' he says. 'But how does the reef benefit?' This year Singleton and Bulma joined a campaign to nominate the Great Barrier Reef for a UN lifetime achievement award; the first time a non-human entity has been put forward. The honour has previously recognised individuals such as Sir David Attenborough. In July the reef received a less celebratory distinction: the UN warned it could soon be added to the world heritage 'in danger' list, citing mounting threats from climate change and pollution. The Australian government has until early 2026 to show progress – or risk the reef's heritage status being downgraded. Singleton admits he initially questioned the intent behind the UN nomination. 'I did hear a comment somewhere about whether this was a media stunt,' he says. 'But I do think there is some genuine respect in there. It would be good to have more people speaking across the whole reef, to strengthen that voice.' That voice, he says, has always existed, if only we would listen. 'In our language, we call the reef Yurrbinji, which means 'song'. I've always thought, if the reef had a voice, it would sing.' Bulma shares that hope, especially for future generations. 'It's for our kids and grandkids. We've got to protect the reef, so they can see what we saw and feel that same connection.' 'We need to put this more on a global level,' he adds. 'I'll cross my fingers for that.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
‘Super corals' and supplements: Inside the lab trying to save the Great Barrier Reef
Editor's Note: Call to Earth is a CNN editorial series committed to reporting on the environmental challenges facing our planet, together with the solutions. Rolex's Perpetual Planet Initiative has partnered with CNN to drive awareness and education around key sustainability issues and to inspire positive action. Australia's iconic Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on the planet and home to a vast array of species. But in recent years it has been hit by a series of devastating mass bleaching events, turning the vibrant colors of parts of the reef a bright white. Across the world, corals are suffering a similar fate, with more than 80% of the ocean's reefs hit by an ongoing global bleaching event that began in 2023, due to record high marine temperatures. Bleaching can be deadly, as the corals are depleted of the algae that live inside them and act as a food source. The effects can be catastrophic; while coral reefs occupy just 0.01% of the ocean floor, they support a quarter of all marine life, as well as providing people with food and livelihoods, and helping to reduce storm surge and protect against erosion. At the UN Ocean Conference this month, 11 countries signed a pledge to protect climate-resilient reefs, and, separately, governments and partners pledged $25 million to a global fund for coral reefs. Ultimately, if coral reefs are to be saved, efforts to curb ocean warming by reducing carbon emissions need to be stepped up, but scientists are also searching for other solutions to keep coral reefs alive in a warming world. At the University of Technology Sydney, scientists from the Future Reefs team are searching for 'super corals' — species that are naturally more resilient to environmental changes, such as high temperatures, acidity or low oxygen levels. One of the program's goals is to identify these corals, discover what methods they are using to survive, and use them as a blueprint to support other corals in the harsher environments of the future. 'We have a focus on trying to understand reef resilience in a changing environment,' says Dr. Emma Camp, marine biologist and leader of the Future Reefs team. 'How do we build coral resilience to survive the stresses they're going to inevitably face? But also, how can we as humans use technology and science to support corals to make them more resilient?' Searching for super corals Camp first discovered 'super coral' species growing in mangrove lagoons, which are naturally hot and acidic. Since then, she says the team has found up to 40 of these hardy species growing in different environments across the globe. Now, their focus is on finding them within the Great Barrier Reef. '(We want) to identify coral species with greater heat tolerance, but that are still able to maintain other traits that are really critical: we want them to be fast growers, we want them to provide good habitat for other organisms living on the reef,' says Christine Roper, a postdoctoral researcher on the team. During expeditions to the Great Barrier Reef, the team collects and analyzes specific coral species. They carry out real-time heat tolerance testing on the samples using a special phenotyping machine that helps to predict which coral has the best chance of survival as water temperatures rise. They also take fragments of coral back to the lab, where they can extract DNA and conduct more extensive tests. Once they've identified a stress-tolerant species, the Coral Nurture Program — a project co-founded by Camp that works with local tourism operators and indigenous communities to replant corals at scale — propagates it on coral nurseries which they have established at different locations across the Great Barrier Reef, before 'outplanting' them on the reef to help restore areas that have been affected by bleaching. Since the program's inception in 2018, over 125,000 corals have been outplanted across the Great Barrier Reef — off Cairns, Port Douglas and the Whitsundays — with a survival rate of 85%. But restoring areas of the Great Barrier Reef is no easy task. It has almost 3,000 individual reefs and covers 344,400 square kilometers (133,000 square miles), and as of April 2024, as much as 60% of its reefs had recently been exposed to potential bleaching. The team is hopeful that areas where outplanting has taken place are already showing visible signs of recovery. Other labs around the world are developing similar solutions, also with promising results. The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) has been using artificial selection and selective breeding to grow heat-tolerant corals, reporting that genetic interventions can work, but with varying success between species. The UK's University of Newcastle has also selectively bred corals that it says can better survive marine heatwaves, although it is yet to conduct large-scale trials in the wild. Studies have shown that traditional coral restoration efforts can be undone within a few years if there is a bleaching event, but by planting heat-resilient corals the Coral Nurture Program hopes the restoration will be able to withstand future events. 'By focusing our efforts on identifying and increasing the abundance of heat-tolerant corals in the population, we optimize our efforts by ensuring those populations will be more resilient to future heat stress events,' says Roper. Scaling up The major challenge — be it with naturally or selectively bred corals — is how to scale up the process of planting, which is labor-intensive and costly, requiring people to dive down to the reef and plant the corals by hand. That's why the focus of the Coral Nurture Program has been to engage tourism operators and local communities. 'We can build scale by having pockets of communities undertaking these actions,' says Camp. It collaborates with seven tourism operators on the Great Barrier Reef, including Wavelength Reef Cruises, so that snorkelling trips to the reef paid for by tourists double up as outplanting expeditions. On these trips, members of the crew — who are all trained divers and marine biologists — outplant coral, tend to nurseries and conduct surveys of the area. The team at Wavelength helped to establish the program with Camp and has also been integral in operating coral nurseries along the reef and collecting data on coral health. Even so, there is a limit to how much can be achieved just through outplanting tough coral species. The Future Reefs team is also exploring other solutions, including whether feeding corals different food or vitamins could change their heat tolerance. Corals feed by extending tentacles out from their body to catch microscopic food particles. Past research has shown that feeding corals zooplankton — tiny animals that float near the surface of the water — after a bleaching event can help to boost resilience, as can growing corals on substrates infused with metal nutrients such as manganese and zinc. But such methods have not yet been tried on a large scale. 'Despite knowing a lot about corals, we know relatively little about coral nutrition,' says Camp. 'This, to me, is an area where research and science can really help us advance restoration practice by understanding more about what the corals fundamentally need to survive through stress.' Though in its early stages, the team back in the laboratory in Sydney has experimented with feeding corals foods such as microscopic brine shrimp fed with different types of algae, and adding certain metals or vitamins to the water that the corals will absorb. The goal is to develop a supplement that could give corals extra nutrients when stressed, helping them survive or recover from mass bleaching events. 'It's like us as humans: when we are run down, we might take a supplement to give us a boost. It's the same with the corals,' says Camp, adding that this kind of solution would potentially be easy to scale and apply to reefs globally. 'It's these sorts of new ideas that we have to explore, and nothing can be off the table, because if we don't do something, the end result is going to be a loss of reefs around the world,' she says. While hopeful that scientific innovation and scalable solutions can provide some sort of stopgap for coral reefs, Camp warns that protecting them long-term comes down to tackling the cause of mass coral bleaching, which means reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating global warming. 'There's only so much we can do to buy time for the reef,' she says. 'We have to tackle climate change, because if the temperatures keep increasing, we're going to be asking too much of the corals to survive through the environment that they're being faced with.' Additional reporting by Alkira Reinfrank, CNN.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
‘If the reef had a voice, it would sing': could legal personhood help the Great Barrier Reef?
While patrolling the Great Barrier Reef, Gary Singleton was struck by an eerie stillness. The Coral Sea lay flat as glass beneath a heavy, windless sky. The heat was stifling, the water a little too warm. 'It was beautiful,' he says. 'But I remember thinking, 'I feel sorry for the reef.'' That moment stayed with him. A Yirrganydji traditional owner and land and sea manager in the Cairns-Port Douglas region, Singleton has spent more than 12 years working to protect the reef – as warming seas, sediment runoff, pollution and overfishing steadily erode its resilience. Just this week a report found a record drop in live coral in two out of three sections of the reef, prompting warnings that a tipping point for the ecosystem's future is approaching. 'My biggest fear is that we'll lose everything,' says Singleton, whose father, Gavin Singleton Sr, was also a sea ranger. 'It's a big part of our identity. We don't just think of the Great Barrier Reef as coral, we think of it as an entire system. A living thing.' As traditional owners like Singleton witness the reef's decline first-hand, some are beginning to ask a deeper question: what if the reef had the same legal rights as a person? Around the world, rivers, forests and mountains have been recognised as legal entities under a growing legal movement known as the 'rights of nature'. In the case of the Great Barrier Reef, the rights of nature model could recognise the world's largest coral system as a legal person: an entity capable of holding rights and having those rights defended in court. 'I've been quite interested in the concept of recognising the reef as its own living entity,' Singleton says. 'Like New Zealand, with some of the rivers and mountains being given[legal personhood] status. 'It's about separating the politics and all that outside noise and really giving the reef the respect it deserves as its own entity, its own being.' According to Dr Michelle Maloney, a lawyer and co-founder of the Australian Earth Laws Alliance, rights of nature laws could profoundly improve Australia's environmental governance system. 'Australian law, like most western legal systems, treats nature as human property: a collection of objects to be used, exploited or protected,' she says. 'In contrast, Aboriginal legal systems, some of the oldest continuous legal systems in the world, have always seen nature as alive. We have a lot to learn from Aboriginal law.' Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads Rights of nature encompasses different approaches to trying to extend new rights or protections to nature, through granting ecosystems or natural objects status as legal persons or living entities. Legal personhood is a legal construct that grants legal rights to entities. Living entity is a term that recognises something is in fact alive, not just an object, but being granted this status doesn't create a legal right. Maloney believes that granting the reef legal personhood could be relatively straightforward, if the political will were there. 'In theory, the government could pass a law that says the Great Barrier Reef is a legal entity and has rights to exist, thrive, evolve and continue its vital cycles,' she says 'And there are a number of different ways such a law could be implemented.' Under one model, guardians – including traditional owners and other stakeholders – would be appointed to act on the reef's behalf. 'It would mean a process that made sure all of the different First Nations people up and down the reef system could be guardians for their land and sea country.' she says. Maloney says this systemic change isn't just a tool for symbolism but for action: 'Let's say a container ship leaked oil. The reef's guardians could sue the company for damages on behalf of the reef. Guardians could also have a stronger voice in future planning to reduce activities that damage the reef.' The legal personhood model appeals to Victor Bulma, a Mandingalbay Yidinji man and marine park inspector who lives in Yarrabah, just south of Cairns. 'I would definitely support it,' he says. 'It is a great idea to give us some sort of rights and stuff. But yeah, that'd be a big hill to climb.' He has witnessed significant changes to the reef over his lifetime. But it's the changes to the coral he finds most alarming. 'Back when I was younger the reef was very, very colourful,' he says. 'It was paradise. Global warming plays a big part in the damage of it. Some parts of the reef are just grey.' Maloney believes legal personhood could give guardians like Bulma greater power to defend the reef from climate change. 'It's not just the elephant in the room, it's the elephant starting to crush us all,' she says. 'And we have a government that refuses to take it seriously and denies any duty of care.' She points to the federal court ruling in the Pabai case, which found the government has no duty of care to Torres Strait Islanders on climate change, as evidence of the system's failure. 'I'd like to think legal personhood would change things for the better. Because if the law says its guardians have a right to do all they can to protect the reef, then they should be able to force real change.' Internationally, the rights of nature movement is gaining momentum. Ecuador became the first country to enshrine the rights of nature in its constitution in 2008; since then, dozens of successful court cases have been brought on behalf of ecosystems. In Australia, Victoria passed legislation in 2017 recognising the Yarra River as a living entity, acknowledging its ecological value and cultural significance to the Wurundjeri people. Sign up to Five Great Reads Each week our editors select five of the most interesting, entertaining and thoughtful reads published by Guardian Australia and our international colleagues. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Saturday morning after newsletter promotion While New Zealand's Whanganui River was granted legal personhood as part of a Treaty of Waitangi settlement, the path is more complex in Australia. 'There are no treaties between First Nations people and the British or Australian governments, and Aboriginal people have fewer triggers in the law to insist on their rights,' Maloney says. 'That makes it a little harder. Not impossible, but harder.' For Singleton, who spends his days restoring coral and seagrass, monitoring marine life and planting trees along the coastline, the need to protect the reef is undeniable. 'The thing is, the reef's threats are cumulative … you can't single out one thing,' he says. 'The entire ecosystem needs protecting. Our elders have always seen the reef holistically.' He hopes the concept of legal personhood can help reframe public thinking, not just about damage, but about responsibility. 'As people, we are benefiting from the reef – socially, economically and culturally,' he says. 'But how does the reef benefit?' This year Singleton and Bulma joined a campaign to nominate the Great Barrier Reef for a UN lifetime achievement award; the first time a non-human entity has been put forward. The honour has previously recognised individuals such as Sir David Attenborough. In July the reef received a less celebratory distinction: the UN warned it could soon be added to the world heritage 'in danger' list, citing mounting threats from climate change and pollution. The Australian government has until early 2026 to show progress – or risk the reef's heritage status being downgraded. Singleton admits he initially questioned the intent behind the UN nomination. 'I did hear a comment somewhere about whether this was a media stunt,' he says. 'But I do think there is some genuine respect in there. It would be good to have more people speaking across the whole reef, to strengthen that voice.' That voice, he says, has always existed, if only we would listen. 'In our language, we call the reef Yurrbinji, which means 'song'. I've always thought, if the reef had a voice, it would sing.' Bulma shares that hope, especially for future generations. 'It's for our kids and grandkids. We've got to protect the reef, so they can see what we saw and feel that same connection.' 'We need to put this more on a global level,' he adds. 'I'll cross my fingers for that.'
