The Great Barrier Reef is approximately 12,000 years old and it has changed a lot, especially since 1850’s because that’s when human settlement began.

 Before the 1850’s the Great Barrier Reef had:

·         Cleaner Water

·         Healthier Coral

·         A wide variety of Fish

·         A wide variety of Birds

But now the water is polluted, the coral is very unhealthy; there is less variety of fish and not so many species of different birds or other animals.

As you can see human activity has made a huge difference and one of the major causes is climate change.

 

But the things that people don’t realize is that the Great Barrier Reef is under huge pressure now especially from fishing, coastal development, farming and land pollution that has now reached the reef. All due to these changes in the habitat, lots of species have had to change the way they used to live and are not adapting very well to the different habitat and causing them to become extinct, threatened or at risk.

There are also other major things that have changed the reef:

·         Pollution levels have increased

·         70-80% of wetland has been lost in major river catchments.

·         Fish stocks have decreased 

 

So it’s time for us to make a difference. So to make the Great Barrier Reef be as beautiful as it was 1000 years ago we can:

·         Not dispose of harsh chemicals down the drain

·         Keep drains and gutters clean of rubbish

·         Use less of certain fertilizers

·         Be careful not to spill oils form boats into the water

·         Use garden beds to catch rainwater

·         Use biodegradable toilet paper

 

And the biggest thing we can do to help is-

TO DISPOSE OF WASTES PROPERLY