UNESCO recommends delaying decision on placing Great Barrier Reef on list of 'in danger' World Heritage sites

Paris, Aug 2: UNESCO has recommended delaying a decision to place Great Barrier Reef on a list of 'in danger' World Heritage sites, but has emphasized it remains under "serious threat" from climate change and pollution.

  

 

 

The Australian government’s management of the reef was set to come under the microscope at an upcoming World Heritage Committee meeting where members were expected to vote on whether the reef should be labelled as "in danger". However, UNESCO in a report released overnight, recommended delaying that crucial decision for at least another year. Its draft recommendation said the Australian government had taken positive steps to protect the reef in the past 12 months.

 

 

 

 

 

But UNESCO said "urgent and sustained action" was still needed to improve the long-term resilience of the world's biggest coral ecosystem. The UN agency, which oversees World Heritage sites, had been considering whether the reef should be placed on its "In Danger" list. The World Heritage In Danger list is used to highlight places that are under threat of losing the unique qualities that earned them World Heritage status in the first place. Once a site enters the list, it can be stripped of its World Heritage status entirely.

 

 

UNESCO’s recent announcement follows years of back and forth about the reef's future as a World Heritage site. The UN body, in 2021, released a draft decision saying the reef should be added to its "In Danger" list. The Morrison government lobbied against that recommendation and it was not upheld. The organisation, instead, sent a mission to visit the Great Barrier Reef and assess its health in 2022, and those scientists also concluded that the reef should go on the "In Danger" list.

 

 

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