A confronting documentary by a Chernobyl researcher shows the Great Barrier Reef is in grave danger due to poor management of the surrounding land. The film, ‘Murder on the Reef’, by Gold Coast based geochemist, Allen Dobrovolsky, and film-maker, Alex Fitzwater, compares poor management of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef with the Chernobyl disaster of 1986.
“Poor environmental management led to the environmental disaster in the Great Barrier Reef’s port of Gladstone in 2011,“ Dr Dobrovolsky said. “Since this time the reef has suffered unprecedented back-to-back bleaching events which have killed half of the corals. This is due to the warming oceans caused by climate change. The collapse of an entire ecosystem is imminent unless action is taken.”
According to Dr Dobrovolsky, the next impending reef disaster will be on a much larger scale due to the predicted global increase in the rate of bleaching events.“I would like people to walk away after watching the documentary understanding the reef is affected so much that without human intervention it will die,” he said. The film reveals an underlying lack of co-operation between government, marine research scientists, activists, politicians, indigenous leaders and the general public as being a core factor in the rapid decline of the reef’s health.
Since its release in February this year, Murder on the Reef has received severalaccolades, including the Hollywood Boulevard Film Festival’s ‘Best Documentary Film’ and The Monthly Film Festival’s ‘Best Feature Film’ awards.
Murder On The Reef Documentary will be screened at The J Theatre, Noosa Junction on Thursday 10 January at 6.30pm. Tickets $25 for adults, $20 concessions and 10 per cent will go to the Marine Conservation Society.Book at www.thej.com.au, at the theatre box office or phone 5329 6560
