Axios

Great Barrier Reef Foundation

Bob Muir is a Woppaburra Elder and Traditional Owner of the Keppel Islands, southern Great Barrier Reef

With a deep connection to the land and sea, Bob plays a crucial role in preserving and revitalizing the cultural heritage of his people.

Currently working with AIMS (Australian Institute of Marine Science), Bob serves as an Indigenous Partnership Coordinator, actively engaging in various projects that contribute to the restoration and adaptation of the Reef. He is particularly involved in the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program and a significant coral research project in the Keppel Islands.

Australia's Great Barrier Reef has been hit by a major bleaching event affecting 73% of the iconic ecosystem, according to a new Australian government report.

The big picture: A "perfect storm of threats" including climate change and the related hottest year on record in 2023 and warmer ocean temperatures, coupled with El Niño, contributed to the bleaching, said Anna Marsden, managing director of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation nonprofit, in a Wednesday interview.

Scientists are […] working with Aboriginal traditional custodians off the coast of the state of Queensland.

Zoom in: Bob Muir, a Woppaburra people elder who works as an Indigenous partnership coordinator with the Australian Institute of Marine Science on reef restoration and adaptation projects, said the first Australians had carried out key work harvesting coral spawn to replenish reefs.

• "Men go out and do the harvesting. Then after cryopreservation, the women go and release the eggs into the ocean," he told Axios via email Wednesday.

• Meanwhile, Marsden noted that the Australian government was investing $1.2 billion to 2030 in increasing the protection efforts, while the Great Barrier Reef Foundation had raised about $358 million in private support.