GREAT BARRIER REEF NOT DOOMED?

It has been common knowledge for years that the Great Barrier Reef is in imminent danger of destruction. Well, maybe the reef isn't doomed:

Reports of the death of the world's most famous reef appear to have been greatly exaggerated. With their impassioned warnings to protect the coral, are scientists and conservationists doing more harm than good?

THE Great Barrier Reef is dying, crushed by an onslaught of rising ocean temperature, farming run-off, plagues of crown-of-thorns starfish, fishing and tourism. Better visit this rainforest of the oceans before it's too late. Right?

Wrong. Far from being on its last legs, the reef is in glowing health. Indeed, according to the 2002 "Report on the Status of the World's Coral Reefs", the reef is "predominantly in good condition", and just about pristine compared with reefs elsewhere in the world. So how has the perception that the reef is in imminent danger of collapse become entrenched in the public consciousness?

According to a small but increasingly vocal group of reef experts, the problem lies with scientists and conservation groups who have been distorting the health of the reef for their own ends...

That excerpt's from 2003 but the situation probably hasn't changed much; especially the doom and gloom mongering.