The World Heritage Committee's draft decision not to list the Great Barrier Reef as "in danger" is the "strongest possible endorsement of what Queensland and Australia are doing", the federal Environment Minister says.

Speaking in Brisbane on Saturday, Greg Hunt, standing side-by-side with his state Labor counterpart Steven Miles, said UNESCO had not only recognised what their two governments were doing to save the reef, they supported it.

But he dismissed suggestions the draft decision put Queensland and Australia on probation.

"Not only has there been praise given to Australia, we've returned to the five-year reporting cycle," he said.

"Any reference to review has also been removed, so there is recognition of some of the challenges that Queensland and Australia have identified, but, at the end of the day, this is the strongest possible endorsement of what Australia and Queensland are doing, the decision could not be more categorical; it recognises not just the plan, but the real world improvements that are occurring.

"This is still the world's Great Barrier Reef.

"It is the most majestic reef in the world, it is the largest reef in the world and it is the greatest reef in the world."

The turning point for the reef was the decision to ban dredge spoil from the Abbot Point port expansion being dumped offshore.

That work was started by Jeff Seeney in the former LNP government and continued by his Labor successors.

Labor has since set targets of reducing nitrogen runoff by up to 80 per cent and sediment runoff by up to 50 per cent in key catchment areas.

But while the process proved embarrassing for both the federal and state governments, with conservation groups launching an international campaign to save the reef, which caught the attention of movie star Leonardo DiCaprio and US President Barack Obama, and at one point saw the LNP state government declare war on ice-cream company Ben and Jerry's, Mr Hunt said he welcomed the scrutiny.

"I think this is a very useful process," he said.

"I want to thank the World Heritage Centre and the World Heritage Committee.

"They have allowed us to do things on our respective watches, which we may never have been able to have done.

"When I am old and greyer, I hope to sit back on my chair and, along with what we have done with the emissions reduction fund, the work to protect the reef I hope is the work of my life, and Steven [Miles] has also talked about that.

"So we want there to be a strong international eye to complement a strong domestic eye in protecting the reef."

He said it would have been "difficult" to ban dredge spoil dumping without the focus of the international community.

"It might have been difficult to have made the permanent dredge disposal ban throughout the 345,000 square kilometres of the Great Barrier Reef marine park, the 348,000 square kilometres of world heritage area," he said, adding that the changes made had been "deep and profound" and that neither government would "ever go back".

"It was difficult for Queensland to have to make those decisions about their ports.

"It was difficult for us to do something with regards to the dredge disposal ban, which had never been proposed, but the moment I felt the most confident in the campaign was when, in front of 5000 people of the World's Parks Congress, we announced to rapturous international applause, that this dredge ban was put in place. It is already law at the federal level and I know Queensland is making very significant progress."

Mr Miles agreed.

"We would not have been able to achieve this plan, we would not have been able to achieve this investment without the scrutiny of UNESCO up to this point," he said.

"The chance to go back to them over coming years and report in on our progress on initiatives that really will take some time to see substantial turn around, the chance to report back to them I think is actually really important. It means this plan won't just go back on the shelf, it means both governments, it means future governments will be obliged to report back on their progress and I think that is really important."

Mr Miles said the plan, enacted by both governments would have a tangible impact.

"I think that with these initiatives we will start to see a turn around in coral cover and a turn around in the quality of the reef and that is ultimately what we are here for," he said.

"We said consistently, our objective wasn't so much to avoid an endanger listing, it was actually to avoid the reef being in danger and this process has provided the political focus and the opportunity to come up with a plan that can do just that."

But Mr Hunt refused to give any credit to groups such as Greenpeace, which were instrumental in gaining attention on the reef's plight, saying he did not believe their work was "constructive".

"I would say that the World Heritage Centre played a very constructive role, domestic, genuine conservation groups played an extremely important role," he said.

"Others who may have campaigned for an endangered listing should perhaps reflect on whether that was an entirely sensible thing to have done."

The official report will be handed down when UNESCO meets in Bonn, Germany, next month. But Mr Hunt, who was headed to the Whitsundays for an 18-hour trip on Saturday afternoon, said he had a private celebration in mind in the meantime.

"I am going to snorkel this reef this afternoon and just have a moment to myself to recognise that whatever we do, nature does it best," he said.