Why the Australian Government Bought a Massive Cattle Farm to Save the Great Barrier Reef

Australia’s spectacular Great Barrier Reef deserves its status as one of the world’s seven

wonders, attracting over two million visitors per year. It is the only living thing on earth visible from space and is home to an abundance of marine life including 1,500 species of fish, whales, dolphins, sea turtles, stingrays, sharks, and many more. Comprising of over 3000 individual reef systems, the Great Barrier Reef is an extremely important ecosystem for this planet.

Yet, over the past thirty years, it has lost approximately 50 percent of its coral. Global warming has acted as the reef’s biggest threat with rising ocean temperatures this year causing unprecedented coral bleaching most significantly in the northern part. There is also the risk of the recent approval of a mega-coal mine that will cause mass devastation to the reef if it goes ahead. But another less known and avoidable element has also been playing a part in its destruction: animal agriculture – especially cattle farming.

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