The Great Barrier Reef stretches 2300km along the coast of north-eastern Australia.This patchwork of 2900 reefs is protected in a marine park covering 345,000 km2 - an area bigger than the UK and Ireland.Yet this significant ecosystem is threatened by diffuse pollution from the Reef's catchment. Mr Doug Yuille, Director of Reef Policy for the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management, explains: 'Decades of research suggested that the Great Barrier Reef was in decline, particularly the inshore reefs, from land-based pollution. For instance, the significant discharge of fertiliser nutrients has led to elevated phytoplankton growth, which favours the Crown of Thorns Starfish, the major cause of coral loss.The Queensland Government believed it had to act.'
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