Great Barrier Reef Foundation awards first funding – to a government agency

The foundation's first project after controversial $443m grant is for a survey of remote parts of reef by the Australian Institute of Marine Science

The not-for-profit foundation that was awarded a controversial $443.3m grant for the Great Barrier Reef has funded its first project - a research survey that will be carried out by a government agency.

The Great Barrier Reef Foundation will announce on Monday that a 25-day health survey of remote parts of the reef by the Australian Institute of Marine Science is the first venture awarded money through the Reef Trust partnership set up by the government last year.