The Great Barrier Reef should not go on
a World Heritage danger list, according to a United Nations draft
report.
May 29, 2015
 |
| Green Photo Agency - by Fabio Iaconianni |
However, it says Australia must carry
out commitments to protect the reef, including restoring water
quality and restricting new port developments.
The final decision on its status will
be made at the World Heritage Committee meeting in Germany next
month.
Conservationists have warned that the
outlook for the reef is "poor".
A report published in 2014 concluded
that the condition "is expected to further deteriorate in the
future". Climate change, extreme weather, and pollution from
industry were listed a key concerns.
However, in 2015 Australia submitted a
plan to the UN heritage body, Unesco, outlining how it would address
these threats.
This included a proposed objective of
reducing pollution by 80% before 2025, as well as reversing a
decision to allow dredged material to be dumped near the reef.
Precious place
The Unesco draft report says
that Australia must implement this 35-year action plan, and Unesco
will continue to check on its progress.
The matter - along with the future of
other World Heritage sites - will be debated at a Unesco meeting
taking place in Bonn from 28 June to 8 July.
* The Great Barrier Reef includes 3,000
coral reefs and 600 islands
* It is the world's largest marine
park, covering 348,000 sq km
* It contains 400 types of coral, 1,500
species of fish and 4,000 kinds of mollusc
* It receives about two million
tourists each year.
* The region contributes A$6bn ($4.6bn;
£3bn) a year to the Australian economy.
The Great Barrier Reef was given World
Heritage status in 1981.
It is a vast collection of thousands of
smaller coral reefs spans, stretching from the northern tip of
Queensland to the state's southern city of Bundaberg.
The UN says this is the "most
biodiverse" of its World Heritage sites, and that is of
"enormous scientific and intrinsic importance".
Setting targets
Greenpeace issued a statement saying
the draft report was "not a reprieve - it is a big, red flag
from Unesco". The group's reef campaigner Shani Tager
highlighted the fact that the Australian government had been asked to
prepare a report within 18 months.
"Unesco now joins a long line of
scientists, banks, organisations and individuals who are deeply
worried about the reef's health," Ms Tager said.
Prof Callum Roberts, a marine
conservation biologist at the University of York in the UK, said he
thought Unesco had made the right decision, based on "major
progress" that has recently been made in the Australian
authorities' approach to the reef.
But he noted that the announcement was
more of a postponement than a final judgement.
"They're setting targets and
they're obviously going to watch this very closely," Prof
Roberts told BBC News.
"I think Unesco is right to put on
hold its decision, in view of this long-term sustainability plan. But
it's also very right to set some target dates for Australia to
produce evidence that it's actually sticking to the plan - that it's
investing enough money to make that plan happen."
Prof Roberts also pointed to efforts by
the Queensland state government.
"The situation a couple of years
ago was that the Queensland government was fast-tracking major
industrial developments along the Great Barrier Reef coast -
particularly a number of very large port developments which would
service coal exports.
"That has all been scaled back
significantly. [The government] has also responded to the major.
"The outlook for the reef is a lot
better today than it was two years ago."
(source: BBC)
