ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies Symposium
"Securing Coral Reef Futures: linking ecosystems, societies and economies"
6th August, 2009
Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, Professor Terry Hughes FAA,
Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research and Innovations), James Cook University, Professor Chris Cocklin,
Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, Dr Ian Poiner,
Distinguished Presenters and Participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In the spirit of reconciliation to which we in Queensland are firmly committed, I acknowledge the first peoples of Australia and the traditional custodians of the lands and waters where Brisbane was established: the Jagera and Turrbal peoples and their descendants.
I am delighted to open this symposium on a subject that is dear to my heart. I have been involved in various ways with the protection of coral reefs for almost two decades - since the early 1990's, when I was quite unexpectedly appointed, within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra, as a Special Adviser in our International Organisations and Legal Division to help deal with the environmental issues that had absolutely exploded onto the policy agendas of all countries, in the lead up to the United Nations (UN) Conference on Environment and Development - UNCED - or ‘The Earth Summit' to be held in Rio. I was plunged into what was then a highly unfamiliar world and then into an intensive process of national and international negotiations to conclude Agenda 21 and the three major framework conventions spawned by the Summit - on climate change, biodiversity and drought and desertification. I became Australia's Ambassador for the Environment and in that role - and subsequently, as Australia's Ambassador to the UN for seven years - I became deeply involved with a host of issues relating to sustainable development and the environment, including, of course, given their profound significance, the protection of coral reefs. I was privileged to be asked to serve as chairman of the preparatory process for the First UN Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and was also invited to launch the International Coral Reefs Initiative (ICRI), in Dumaguete City in the Philippines and -even when I moved on to other positions - to be able to maintain my involvement with the subject over the years, to this day - partly through having a network of contacts with some extraordinary scientists and researchers in Australia and overseas, whose passion for coral and coral reefs is both awesome and infectious - people like Carden Wallace and Clive Wilkinson - who keep me up to date and involved, plying me with information about the status of our corals and coral reefs, persuading me to write forewords for publications and host functions to help promote awareness of and greater international collaboration on the subject; partly, because - until a year ago, when I left DFAT, after 40 years, to take up this position, I had a succession of postings where the issues remained to some extent partly on my professional agenda - notably in India, Africa, France and Monaco, where I had quite a deal to do with its Oceanographic Institute, whose work on corals will be known, I am sure, to some of you here today.
Now, in my current role, as Queensland's Head of State, with the Great Barrier Reef on our doorstep and so many of Australia's and the worlds leading scientists and scientific institution's dealing with coral reef studies located or active here, I have significant reason and opportunity to champion the cause of coral reef protection and the sustainable management of coral reefs, in Australia, our region and globally - and am very happy to do so, when the opportunity presents itself - as with today's symposium (and, down the track, when we host the 2012 International Coral Reef Symposium).
When I saw the title - "Securing Coral Reef Futures: linking ecosystems, societies and economies" - my initial thought was that it was very ambitious. That's a lot to cover in two days! My next thought was that it was a good reflection of its organisers and hosts, the Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies - because I know the Centre, too, is highly ambitious in the innovative work program it undertakes, in its determination to remain at the cutting edge of world science in this field and its commitment to drive forward the national and international agenda on the sustainable use and management of coral reefs.
The symposium's title and program embraces all the interests and all the stakeholders involved with the future of our reefs - a web of competing and complementary interests as complex as anything to be found below the sea.
It is unrealistic to suggest that one symposium can resolve the tensions that surround the development of good policy in this area - and I know you are here essentially to be brought up to date with the latest science, but the title is a good reminder of all the interests that have to be balanced - and of all the sectors of our community that we must reach, if everyone, experts, stakeholders, policymakers and the public alike are to understand what must be done to secure the future of our coral reefs - not only the ‘why' but the ‘how'.
Looking at the program, I'm pleased to see that one of the toughest issues is upfront, with this morning's session on Climate Change - something that so obviously and fundamentally involves the linkages that you are seeking to highlight.
Having been involved so closely and for so long with the issue of climate change, occasionally -when people discuss the subject - I feel as if I am in that film "Groundhog Day", where we keep repeating the same experiences over and over again. Surely, by now, the arguments should be over and the word of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) accepted? Yet we remain embroiled in difficult debate and controversy, with information and disinformation about climate change assaulting us at every turn. I haven't done it myself, but I'm told that if one "Googles" the term "Climate Change", you get 157,000, 000 results, of infinitely variable quality and reliability. So the need for good science, to inject facts and reason into the public discussion; and for the experts to remain absolutely up-to-date, so that they can provide first-rate advice to the policymakers, is stronger than ever. This symposium meets that need - and I am pleased that it has drawn such strong attendance and such quality participation from within the scientific and wider community.
The second session, on "Coral Reef fishes: ecology, conservation and management"-while dealing with issues less in the headlines than climate change, is no less pressing, in scientific, political and geopolitical terms, linked not only to the issues of protection of marine life, but to the larger, looming issue of world food security - about which I have spoken a number of times in recent weeks. I know your preoccupations are probably closer to home and focused on the more immediate, practical issues of conservation and management, but looking at the larger picture, I am concerned to see the temperature rising, in the already tense negotiations around fishing quotas and access to migratory fish stocks. Here again, it will be - or should be - good science which may help us to find the way forward, to agreements and outcomes that are sensible and sustainable.
The third session, tomorrow, on "People and Economies" is possibly the most difficult issue for the policymakers amongst the audience for this symposium, with half the world's population living within 100 kilometres of the coast and a tenth within 10km. We all know the problems - the physical and economic vulnerabilities - in developing countries - the imperatives that drive people to unsustainable over-exploitation of resources and to those destructive practices that threaten the world's coral reefs. Here I believe that Australia has a very special and particular responsibility: because of the extensive portfolio of reef systems within our territorial waters, our relative wealth and prosperity, and our sophisticated network of research, policy and infrastructure. Patently, it is in Australia's long term interests to help develop the systems that other tropical and subtropical countries can use to adapt to protect the coral reefs inside their territorial waters, and I know that the research conducted by the Centre of Excellence is making a very significant contribution to this endeavour.
The penultimate session with the rather modest title of "Management and Conservation Planning" could sound a little dull at first blush, but it might also more dramatically - and accurately - be termed "the final frontier" - because - as I say over and over again - the integration of good science and good policy is still a major challenge, not just for marine reef preservation but onshore as well, for all aspects of environmental conservation. And while Australia can justly claim to be at the forefront of implementing science-based management of our reef systems, there is always room for improvement, and for better translation and application of new research to improve the management of these critical natural resources.
While all elements of the symposium are important, the final session, the public forum, is in many ways, possibly the most significant, because it allows the public to engage directly with the most eminent scientists of the Centre of Excellence about all these topics and more. For science to be truly effective it must not only be disseminated through the community, it must be examined, discussed, argued and accepted, not kept as the province of experts. In my experience, Queenslanders are intensely interested in the health of the marine environment, and the forum promises to be a valuable two-way engagement on the future of both the local reefs, close to Brisbane in Moreton Bay, and of the iconic World Heritage Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
President John F. Kennedy noted in 1962 that "All of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean." It is a lovely metaphor for how closely linked we are to the ocean, especially here in Queensland, and by extension, to the health and wellbeing of the coral reefs that function as the rainforests of the sea, beautiful, fragile and infinitely complex. I became a little fanciful thinking about this, imagining that the linkages to the ocean run so deeply through our Queensland society, culture and economy that they could be described as embedded in our blood, in our collective DNA. More prosaically, I do think that many would agree that more than any other State in the Commonwealth we have the most at stake when it comes to securing the future of our coral reefs, and in forging the right linkages linking our ecosystems, society and economy.
It will be very obvious to you all that I care deeply about the issues you will be discussing; that I have the utmost respect and admiration for our scientists and that I believe that their contribution holds the key - eventually - to our addressing the effectively the many challenges which confront our societies and the planet. I congratulate the Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies for organising this symposium and it is with pleasure that I now declare it open officially.