On August 4th, the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) published its Annual Summary Report on Coral Reef Condition for 2021/2022. It showed another year of increased coral coverage over much of the Reef. In some places the increase was 7-9% in several areas.
87 reefs were surveyed between August 2021 and May 2022. Among those 87 reefs, average hard coral cover in the region north of Cooktown increased to 36% (from 27% in 2021) and to 33% in the central Great Barrier Reef (from 26% in 2021), according to the Good News Network.
CEO of AIMS, Dr. Paul Hardisty, said in a press-release that the results in the north and central regions were a sign the Reef can recover.