Great Barrier Reef On The Road To Catastrophe, Say Environmental Groups Great Barrier Reef. Photo: Supplied. Conservation groups are calling for both the state and federal governments to commit to greater action to avoid an irreversible catastrophe on the Great Barrier Reef. The World Wildlife Fund said 72 per cent of the reef's hard coral had died since the 1960s and strong action was needed to ensure what was left survived. The outlook for the reef is not good, but the situation isn't hopeless, WWF spokesman Nick Heath said in a statement. Solutions do exist. We just need more investment, more targeted action in the most dangerous pollution hotspots. The state and federal governments jointly released the 2011 Great Barrier Reef report card on Wednesday. The report found that the overall condition of the reef had deteriorated from a moderate to a poor condition, with extreme weather events like cyclone Yasi and agricultural runoff having the biggest impacts. Mr Heath said the WWF recognised the progress farmers had made to improve their land management practices and praised the two governments, which have been at loggerheads over how to manage the reef, for striking an agreement on how to fund the Reef Management Plan. But Mr Heath said the plan fell short and fertilisation reduction targets had been deferred for another five years. Felicity Wishart of the Australian Marine Conservation Society said the governments had "missed an opportunity" to slow industrial development along the Queensland coast. "The Queensland government is fast-tracking approvals for increased port, rail and mine developments which will threaten the reef and the federal government appears to be backing them," she said. Ms Wishart said while initiatives to improve water quality should be commended, the threat from expanded industrial developments and dredging overshadowed any gains. Greens Senator Larissa Waters said any gains from the Reef Rescue program were dwarfed by the impact from mining and industrial projects which dotted the coastline. "We've seen some reduction in chemical runoff from some reef catchments reported today but the old parties are continuing to ignore the major threat to reef quality - the scourge of dredging and dumping to build coal and gas ports," Ms Waters said in a statement. Labor has approved the dumping of 17.5 million cubic metres of sediment into the Great Barrier Reef - that's 193 times the amount of sediment the Reef Rescue program has prevented from running off into the reef. The federal government is due to make a decision on the expansion of the Abbot Point coal terminal in August. UNESCO, the body which lists world heritage areas, will consider whether to downgrade the reef to "in danger" again early next year.