Destruction and regeneration are the reefs two great constants the problem is that the reef no longer has the resilience it once had
The Great Barrier Reef is not a museum piece that can be preserved or maintained in any kind of constant state. To talk about keeping it as it is or protecting it in a particular form is a total absurdity. Having dived almost every major section of the reef from the top of Cape York to reefs more than 200 kilometres off Bundaberg, with scientists on various expeditions, I can vouch for the fact that it is never the same from one hour to the next, let alone across years or decades.
A popular tourist reef can go from sublime to smashed in the blink of a cyclone. Crown of Thorns starfish have always munched through vast swathes of coral and flood plumes loaded with sediment from big wet seasons have been smothering inshore reefs for millennia.
Beef cattle grazing on the large, dry catchments adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (in particular the Burdekin and Fitzroy) have involved extensive land clearing and over-grazing during drought conditions. Widespread soil erosion occurred, and associated nutrients have drained into the Great Barrier Reef. Cropping, particularly sugarcane, involves intensive fertiliser use and has created substantial soil erosion. As a result, large quantities of nutrients and sediment have been discharged into the Great Barrier Reef. Pesticide residues from cotton and sugarcane cultivation may pose a threat in some inshore waters.