57 Who’s Minding the Planet? HEADLINE OCEAN & COASTAL WATERS If you believe half the rhetoric that’s out there, it already has. It’s not all doom and gloom The Great Barrier Reef provides billions of dollars of economic benefits to Australia, both directly supporting the fishing industry and indirectly supporting the tourism industry. Ultimate devastation to the Reef would result in unimaginable devastation to the Australian economy. Creating awareness of the damage to the Great Barrier Reef can also be a challenge, especially with organizations that rely on the Reef for economic and cultural benefit, as they may be reluctant to promote the damage. The thought being that if potential visitors are made aware that Reef damage/destruction is prevalent, then there’s a chance that less people will visit the natural phenomenon, thinking it’s “less than what it used to be” and not worth the trek to the land “Down Under.” Fortunately, in March of 2015, to affirm and continue the previous 40 years of conservation efforts, the Australian and Queensland governments developed and released the Reef 2050 Plan. A first-ever government initiative that outlines a 35 year plan to protect the Reef, the Plan was devised with the help of an advisory committee and independent expert panels of scientists and environmentalists, and it ensures the sustainability of the Reef for tomorrow and for future generations. Australia’s Department of the Environment and Energy describes the Reef 2050 Plan as, “Setting clear actions, targets, objectives and outcomes to drive and guide the short, medium and long-term management of the Reef. It firmly responds to the pressures facing the Reef and will address cumulative impacts and increase the Reef’s resilience to longer term threats such as climate change. At the core of the [initiative] is an outcomes framework that will drive progress towards an overarching vision, as well as an investment strategy to fund the countless action items mapped out. Since the inception of the [Reef 2050] Plan in March of 2015, 89% of the actions for the first five years have either been started, completed, or at least on track and targeted for completion.” Reality versus rhetoric For anyone who’s looking, there is a tremendous amount of data and information and articles written on climate change, ocean acidification, and the Great Barrier Reef in particular. From the journal Nature to the NY Times to Brietbart.com, to Outside magazine writing an “obituary” of the Great Barrier Reef in their October 11, 2016 issue [Obituary: Great Barrier Reef (25 Million BC-2016)], countless writers have written. But at the end of the day, if we want to continue to enjoy the beauty that is Mother Nature that is so abundant everywhere we turn – and especially as we plunge into the depths of our oceans – it is prudent for us to continue to obtain and assess the data that our technological advances can offer us. Otherwise, we run the risk of turning a blind eye to the damage and the possible permanent destruction of the natural wonders of the world. And the challenges we thought were a millennia away will escalate exponentially and come to roost much sooner than we ever expected. Government initiatives... ensures the sustainability of the Reef for tomorrow and for future generations.