PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Draft recommendations by world heritage body Unesco on the Great Barrier Reef have had polarising effects, with both sides claiming victory.

In its draft recommendations, the United Nations body expressed its concern over recent approvals for major industrial projects on the reef, despite the fact that long-term strategies to guide how the developments would proceed, were not finalised.

In particular, Unesco expressed its concern over the dredging and dumping of three-million tonnes of dredge spoil in reef waters, as part of the expansion of the Abbot Point coal terminal.

The heritage body also criticised the environmental offset conditions attached to Abbot Point saying they appeared “inappropriate”.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said on Thursday that Unesco’s concern was shared by thousands of Australians and hundreds of scientists, with WWF campaigner Richard Leck calling on the federal government to ban the dumping of dredge spoil in the Great Barrier Reef world heritage site.

Leck pointed out that the Unesco draft recommendations left the possibility open that the World Heritage Committee could declare the Great Barrier Reef a ‘World Heritage in Danger’.

Meanwhile, the draft report has also said that the Heritage Committee should welcome the progress made by the state and federal governments to protect the reef.

“This is a positive outcome for Australia and we can be proud of our achievements in protecting the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. The draft decision recognises the hard work being undertaken to protect and manage this vast and priceless ecosystem,” said Environment Minister Greg Hunt.

“Our initiatives include carrying out a strategic assessment of the Great Barrier Reef, developing a Reef 2050 long-term sustainability plan to further protect the Reef and coastal zone, and establishing a Reef Trust. We will release the draft of the long-term sustainability plan for public comment before the One-Stop Shop approvals bilateral with Queensland is finalised.”

In response to criticism around the proposed Abbot Point coal terminal, Hunt pointed that the project approval complied with Australia’s obligations under the World Heritage Convention, was subject to rigorous environmental assessment and applied Australia’s world-leading net benefit approach.

Queensland Resources Council CEO Michael Roche also defended the development, saying that the cumulative impact assessment prepared by the Abbot Point coal terminal expansion proponents had created a scientific benchmark to inform government decision-makers.

“The comprehensive approach of detailing and accumulating multiple environmental impacts of port expansions gave the federal Environment Minister the scientific evidence he needed to approve the proposal with strict conditions,” he said.

The Abbot Point expansion project, referred to as Terminal 0, is a 70-million-tonne-a-year terminal project being developed by Indian resource giant Adani in two 35-million-tonne-a-year stages.

Unesco has requested a new report proving that the dumping of the three-million tonnes of dredge spoil was the least damaging option and would not damage the reef’s value to the World Heritage Committee.

The report is due by February 1, 2015.