Great Barrier Reef in Australia is not yet on the UNESCO list of endangered world heritage

The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is not yet on the UNESCO list of endangered world heritage. The UN agency has postponed a decision on this, after a lobby from Australia.

A majority of UNESCO members supported the country’s desire not to vote on its endangered status until Australia has completed a research report on its conservation.

The Great Barrier Reef is the best-managed coral reef in the world according to Australia. “Every Australian wants it to be well protected,” Environment Minister Ley said at the online meeting. The status of the reef will be voted on again in 2022.

Biased

The coral reef has been in danger of being placed on the list of endangered world heritage for years. As a result of the increasing average temperatures, the coral is subject to bleaching. Australia would do too little to protect the Great Barrier Reef.

Last month environment Minister Ley said that the Unesco committee is biased and the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, is trying to thwart Australia. Relations between the two countries have cooled, partly because Australia has called for an independent investigation into the origin of the corona pandemic.

The Great Barrier Reef is very important to the Australian tourism industry. Before the corona pandemic, tourism generated 4 billion euros per year. It is also good for thousands of jobs.