Harbours like Sydney's are remarkable in that they sustain enormous
diversity of marine life despite the numerous and widespread environmental "insults" caused to them by the presence of a large city. The danger is that process of decay are happening slowly and not yet noticeably, so that the so-called management of the ecological resources and well-being of the Harbour are not aware of the problems and issues until one day it may be too late to prevent large deleterious changes.
Particular issues are that fragmentation of habitat is a serious concern to ecologists, but not on the agenda of those responsible for managing the Harbour's welfare. Also, although many people are-pre-occupied with issues of water quality, these are not the most important ones for sustaining ecological processes.
Current advances in knowledge based on intensive research will be used to identify how people must change the way we approach management of environmental issues in the Harbour. Ways to enhance natural biodiversity on built structures in the Harbour will be demonstrated. Problems of assessing complex and interactive patterns in biodiversity of marine life will be introduced, to demonstrate the current urgent need for research to identify proper indicators of change in biodiversity. The problems of chronic and on-going contamination, rather than sudden or acute episodes (such as oil-spills) will be identified. Finally, some better ways of dealing with the real issues, rather than the popular or misleading ones will be considered.
If we want a "Working Harbour" that actually works we are going to need better understanding by everyone involved in Sydney Harbour's future welfare.
