UNESCO Keeps 2,300-Km Great Barrier Reef Off Danger List as Coral Cover Declines
Updated
Updated · DW (English) · Jul 4
UNESCO Keeps 2,300-Km Great Barrier Reef Off Danger List as Coral Cover Declines
3 articles · Updated · DW (English) · Jul 4
Summary
A draft UNESCO decision unveiled in Paris left the Great Barrier Reef off the agency's "in danger" list, sparing Australia a designation it had lobbied for years to avoid.
UNESCO said Australia was addressing risks including climate change, water quality, fisheries management and land clearing, but warned the reef's ability to recover is being weakened after mass bleaching in 2024 and 2025.
The reef stretches 2,300 kilometers along Queensland, draws more than 2 million visitors a year and contributes over A$9 billion to the economy while supporting about 77,000 jobs.
Australia must file its next progress report in 2028, extending a monitoring process UNESCO intensified after first warning in 2021 that the site could be moved to the endangered list.
Listed as World Heritage since 1981, the reef has suffered six mass bleaching events since 2016, underscoring how warming seas continue to threaten one of the world's richest coral ecosystems.