PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Should the Unesco World Heritage Committee assign an ‘in-danger’ status to the Great Barrier Reef, it would be a death knell for industries relying on imports or exports, the Queensland Resources Council (QRC) has warned.

Revealing an independent analysis of what it would mean if Unesco in June decided to place the Great Barrier Reef on the ‘in-danger’ list, the QRC noted that environmental and cost implications of future projects in the region could be prohibitive, and potentially unsustainable in the long term.

“The report makes clear that any industry (export or import) reliant on effective port operations may be impacted by the restrictions already adopted and the further restrictions canvassed in the report that are being actively promoted by environmental activists,” said QRC CEO Michael Roche.

In reviewing other case studies, the report noted that once the decision to list the area as ‘in-danger’ was made, Unesco could request that no development activities be undertaken at the site and its surrounding areas, without prior approval of the World Heritage Committee.

“The QRC does not accept that an in-danger listing is either inevitable or justified. We have worked constructively and proactively with the Australian and Queensland governments as a member of the Reef 2050 Partnership Group to contribute to a strong and comprehensive Reef 2050 long-term sustainability plan,” Roche said on Thursday.

“The resources and ports sectors have worked together to ensure Reef 2050 contains leading-edge initiatives, particularly on port development and shipping.”

The Reef 2050 plan would draw together the outcomes of the Great Barrier Reef comprehensive strategic assessment to provide an over-arching framework to guide the protection and management of the reef from 2015 to 2050.

Roche meanwhile said that a foretaste of what an in-danger listing could mean was seen in recent moves by the Australian and Queensland governments to rule out disposal of capital dredge material anywhere in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt earlier this week released details of the commonwealth government’s plans to ban the dumping of capital dredge material in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

Under the reforms, zero capital disposals would be allowed anywhere in the 345 000 km² marine park, covering the full area of commonwealth legislative control.

Hunt pointed out that the Queensland government had also committed to cover a further 3 000 km², including existing port areas which were not in the marine park.

The two areas together would cover the entire World Heritage area.