A new
partnership
announced
on 22
August
will
support
a
comprehensive
study
of
life
on
Australia’s
coral
reefs.
BHP
Billiton,
the
Great
Barrier
Reef
Foundation
and
the
Australian
Institute
of
Marine
Science
(AIMS)
have
developed
a
partnership
which
will
allow
three
Australian
reef
sites
to be
studied
as
part
of
CReefs,
a
global
research
initiative
to
document
and
assess
the
diversity
of
coral
reef
ecosystems.
This
$3.4
million
project,
over
four
years,
will
enable
marine
scientists
and
taxonomists
to
collect
and
identify
samples
during
a
series
of
field
trips
to the
Great
Barrier
Reef’s
Heron
and
Lizard
Islands
and
Ningaloo
Reef
in
Western
Australia.
BHP
Billiton’s
Group
Executive
and
Chief
Executive
Ferrous
and
Coal
Marcus
Randolph
said
BHP
Billiton’s
investment
will
support
the
documenting
of
coral
reef
biodiversity
and
identification
of
issues
to be
addressed
to
safeguard
critical
biodiversity
heritage.
"We
are
delighted
to
make
such
an
important
contribution
to
advancing
science’s
understanding
of
coral
reef
biodiversity
and,
ultimately,
the
preservation
of our
coral
reefs,"
Mr
Randolph
said.
Great
Barrier
Reef
Foundation
Chief
Executive
Judy
Stewart
said
the
partnership
has
delivered
urgently
needed
private
funding
into
the
reef
research
sector.
"Coral
reefs
are
the
most
diverse
and
biologically
complex
marine
ecosystems
in the
world
and
they
are
also
under
threat,"
she
said.
"Understanding
coral
reef
biodiversity
is
critical
to
securing
their
future.
We
need
to
understand
how
reefs
operate
in
order
to
protect
and
preserve
them.
Accelerating
that
effort
is my
first
priority.
"The
private
sector’s
investment
in
this
effort
is
both
timely
and
important.
Australian
reefs
are
rich
in
biodiversity
and
are
hugely
valuable
storehouses
of
information.
To
exclude
them
from a
study
of the
world’s
coral
reefs
would
be
unthinkable,"
Mrs
Stewart
said.
Launched
in
late
2005,
CReefs
(
