WHITSUNDAY farmers and graziers will play a crucial role in the success of the Commonwealth and Queensland governments' joint Reef 2050 Plan, unveiled by Prime Minister Tony Abbott at Hamilton Island on Saturday.

The plan, which is a key component of the Australian Government's strategy to save the Great Barrier Reef from being placed on UNESCO's endangered list in June, is also an "overarching framework" for protecting and managing what Mr Abbot described as this "iconic wonder of the world" for the next 35 years.

The Reef 2050 Plan promises to improve water quality through reducing dissolved inorganic nitrogen loads by 50 per cent in 2018 and 80 per cent by 2025.

It promises to reduce pesticide loads to 60 per cent in priority areas by 2018.

The plan also promises a net improvement in the condition of natural wetlands by 2020.

Under the plan, port development will be limited to just four sites and capital dredge spoil will not be dumped anywhere in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

Speaking after the plan was released, Canegrowers Proserpine manager Michael Porter said he was pleased to see the governments still saw opportunities for water quality improvements but he noted it would be "very challenging" to meet the targets.

"It's a significant reduction. It aligns with the Labor government's target, but even before the election we were a bit concerned that the targets were extremely challenging," he said.

During Saturday's press conference on One Tree Hill, Mr Abbott and Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt promised an additional $100 million for the Reef Trust, originally a $40 million independently managed fund aimed at tackling the key challenges facing the reef and financing projects for improving water quality.

Mr Abbott described the trust as "absolutely critical" in terms of offering incentives to landholders and particularly farmers "who want to better manage their properties in ways that will protect the reef".

"So, whether they're adjusting their practices to reduce the fertiliser run-off, whether they're adjusting their practices to reduce sedimentation and so on, this is precisely the kind of projects that we want to come forward to the Reef Trust for funding, because that money is there to ensure that the water here, the water that is the key to the quality and sustainability of our reef, is in the best possible condition," he said.

Mr Porter said it would be interesting to see how the funding and grants would "flow through" and how the targets would relate to the grants.

He said he felt most local growers had adopted and embraced many of the new farming technologies, and it was only due to a lack of investment dollars they hadn't been able to proceed further.

"There's a significant investment that growers have to put up themselves if we're going to get water quality improvement of the magnitude the government is seeking," he said.

"That was proved in the very first Reef Rescue program, where for every dollar the government put up, growers were spending $2 to achieve those outcomes."

As for whether landholders' contributions to implementing the Reef 2050 Plan would be voluntary or regulated, Mr Abbott said regulations were "largely the preserve of the state".

For more information on the plan, visit www.environment.gov.au/marine/great-barrier-reef/long-term-sustainability-plan.