GBR high on ruination list

: Is the Great Barrier Reef loved to death? Tell us what you think.

by Mat Churchill

The Great Barrier Reef has been listed as one of 15 travel destinations being ruined by tourism.

According to Mother Nature Network, a website which claims to provide 'the most accurate and up-to-date news and information available" and cover "the broadest scope of environmental and social responsibility issues on the internet", the Great Barrier Reef is in dire straits due to the tourism industry.

The website states that "vast tracts of the reef have become bleached by pollution and the abuses of too many tourists, and a recent oil spill has decimated the ecosystem. Without proper care, the Great Barrier Reef could disappear within a generation."

The only comment in response to this claim came from Caitlin, an ex-pat journalist now living in San Fransisco who replied "The Great Barrier Reef is NOT being ruined by tourism. It's being ruined by agricultural run-off (sugar cane plantations on the mainland), climate change and occasional problems like the oil spill."

Other famous tourist attractions to make the list included Machu Picchu in Peru, the Galapagos Islands, Antarctica, and Mount Everest.

Tell us what you think. Is tourism killing our treasured reef?

Have your say !

Michelle Atkinson, 29-05-11 09:53:

Following my first trip to the reef via a reef tour operator I was left feeling a little guilty that I may have contributed to the destruction of the reef via tourism. Firstly I feel there needs to be more stringent policies on the type of boat used, the number of tour operators, the number of operators allowed to run trips there was a huge number of different operators, and it is alarming to think of the petrol that may be dispelled in the ocean and more over the reef. Then the impact of the boats engines as they pass the reef and dock at their sits to allow scuba divers and snorkelers which brings me to my next point, the fact that so many people stand on the coral, touch the coral surely something that grows at such a slow pace and some of whic could possibly be some of the oldest living life firms on earth is valid of serous protection. Then there is the matter of rubbish that escapes people's hands on the trip out and back, that flies directly into the ocean. Quite frankly I was a little overwhelmed with a sense of disgust for tourism especially in such a pristine environment, next time I will look for an Eco tour, something I wish I had had the forethought to do....