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Australian government disputes Great Barrier Reef status

2021-07-22T18:21:25.870Z


UNESCO plans to classify Australia's Great Barrier Reef as "endangered" heritage despite the government's stance.


The Great Barrier Reef faces the UN and Australia 1:35

(CNN) -

The Australian government and a United Nations body are clashing this week to decide whether the Great Barrier Reef is "in danger" of losing its "outstanding universal value."

The World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) is scheduled to vote on Friday on whether the reef, which is on the World Heritage List, should be officially classified as "endangered".

The designation means that the site is threatened and, if no action is taken to remedy the problems, it could lose its World Heritage status.

Australia has tried desperately to avoid this situation through a series of last minute pressures, such as taking its ambassadors on a diving trip to the reef.

Your efforts may have paid off.

Twelve of the 21 countries that are part of the Committee appear to be against applying the classification of "in danger" to the Barrier Reef, according to a proposed amendment published Tuesday on the Unesco website.

Fish swimming through coral in Australia's Great Barrier Reef on September 22, 2014. Credit: William West / AFP / Getty Images

But pressure to impose the rating continues to come from scientists and celebrities, with a letter published the same day signed by 13 public figures, including actors, former politicians and journalists, pressuring the committee to "endorse Unesco's recommendation."

"There is still time to save the Great Barrier Reef, but Australia and the world must act now," the letter reads.

It was signed by "Aquaman" actor Jason Momoa and ocean explorer Philippe Cousteau, among others.

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The battle for the reef

The Great Barrier Reef stretches nearly 345,000 square kilometers off the northeast coast of Australia and is home to more than 1,600 species of fish and 600 species of soft and hard coral.

It is a vital marine ecosystem that also contributes $ 6.4 billion annually to the Australian economy and supports 64,000 jobs, according to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.

They discover a reef higher than the Empire State 1:00

But a series of natural disasters and the growing effects of climate change have severely impacted the reef, including widespread coral bleaching.

A five-year study by the Australian government in 2019 found that the condition of the natural wonder had deteriorated from "poor" to "very poor".

In a report released on June 21, a Unesco monitoring mission said that despite the Australian government's work to improve the reef situation, "there is no possible doubt that the property faces a proven danger."

  • The Great Barrier Reef is in "danger" says the UN.

    But Australia disagrees

But the Australian government has strongly opposed Unesco's conclusion.

Environment Minister Sussan Ley flew to Europe in July as part of a final attempt to convince the other 20 World Heritage members to vote against the measure.

Australia is currently on the rotating committee of 21 countries.

Last week, Australia's official ambassador for the reefs, Warren Entsch, took several ambassadors, including several from the countries that vote in the World Heritage Committee, to the Great Barrier Reef for a diving excursion.

Support from 12 countries?

In a proposed amendment Tuesday, 12 countries on the committee, including Russia, Saudi Arabia and Spain, appeared to back the suggestion not to impose a "endangered" rating on the Barrier Reef, but no final decision has been made.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Ley said that during his stay in France he had met with delegates from various countries.

"Australia's position remains that the Great Barrier Reef is the best-managed reef in the world, supported by more than US $ 3 billion in funding from the Commonwealth Government and the State. Australia is concerned that the process of Inclusion on the list does not include adequate levels of consultation or a response mission, "the spokesman said.

  • The Great Barrier Reef has lost half of its corals in 3 decades

But Dr Fanny Douvere, head of the Marine Program at the World Heritage Center, defended the qualification of "endangered" as "unbiased" and "scientifically based".

The doctor said that regardless of the World Heritage Council's vote on Friday, Unesco's preliminary decision that the reef was "in danger" would continue to represent her considered opinion.

"The evidence is not something that we are investigating, the evidence is something that is described very clearly," he said.

"It simply would not have been credible not to alert the international community to the situation," he added.

An alert to the world

The Unesco World Heritage List contains hundreds of sites considered of great value to future generations, from natural wonders like Yellowstone National Park in the United States to cultural wonders like the Great Wall of China.

Every year, the World Heritage Committee meets to decide whether to add new properties to the list and to assess whether any of the current ones are in danger.

For example, when it meets this month, the World Heritage Committee will also decide whether or not to include Venice on the "in danger" list, due to a number of threats to the historic city, including large cruise ships.

They ask to include Venice in the list of world heritage in danger 0:36

According to the Unesco website, of the 1,121 properties inscribed on the World Heritage List, only 53 are currently classified as "in danger".

Among them are the Everglades National Park in Florida, which is also facing problems related to climate change, and the site of Palmyra, in Syria.

Douvere, from the Marine Program, said the inclusion on the "endangered" list sends a signal to the international community that the sovereign nation responsible for that asset is fighting to maintain it and needs help.

Unesco will then work with the country to determine what must be done to ensure the rescue of the site inscribed on the Heritage List.

"It is a serious decision, it is not something that we make overnight ... It is really an alert to the international community that a place that is on the World Heritage List, something that we want to preserve for future generations. .. is losing its outstanding universal value, "he said.

A risk that has a history

It is not the first time that the Great Barrier Reef is at risk of being included in the list of places "in danger", but the Australian government was "stunned" by the inclusion of the place in the June report of UNESCO.

"This draft recommendation has been made without examining the reef first-hand and without the latest information," Ley said in a statement at the time.

  • Liverpool off Unesco World Heritage list

In the past, the "endangered" ratings have been lifted after the relevant authorities addressed the issues raised by Unesco.

For example, the second largest coral reef in the world, the Belize Barrier, was no longer considered "endangered" after the government imposed a moratorium on oil exploration in the area and strengthened forest laws to protect local mangroves. .

Scientists support the "endangered" designation

The Australian government has backed up its insistence that the reef is not in danger with a new report from the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences, released on Monday, showing an increase in hard coral in three regions of the Great Barrier Reef in the last anus.

"The past two years have revealed that recovery is underway over much of the Great Barrier Reef, a promising sign that illustrates that it still has the necessary ecological capabilities and functions to recover from shocks," the report said.

But leading Australian scientists said the new coral growth is fragile and backed Unesco's decision to include the Great Barrier Reef on the "endangered" list.

Scott Heron, an associate professor of physics at James Cook University in Queensland, said it was "very clear" that the reef was in serious trouble.

Global warming gives no truce to the Great Barrier Reef 1:00

"The threats facing the Great Barrier Reef are serious, they have been continuous and the objectives set have not been achieved," he said.

Heron added that although some corals had returned after bleaching events in recent years, much of the regrowth was a fast-growing variety that was particularly susceptible to heat stress and death.

"The data for this year is a variability that, taken alone, would mask the long-term trend of decline," he said.

Australia's poor performance on climate action

In a statement to CNN, Minister Law's spokesperson said the Australian government opposed the rating as 'endangered', "not only because of our concern regarding the Reef, but because we believe the process runs the risk of damage the integrity of the World Heritage System. "

But Lesley Hughes, a spokesperson for the Climate Council and distinguished professor of biology at Macquarie University, said she believed the Australian government was also concerned about being embarrassed by its poor record on climate change.

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In a report released by the UN in July assessing progress towards the global goals for sustainable development, Australia ranked last for climate action.

"So while the government points to the amount of money it has spent on local adaptation (on the Barrier Reef), it still doesn't take itself seriously and has never taken the fight against climate change seriously," Hughes said.

"The inclusion of the reef in the list of" in danger "will only draw international attention to the failure of the government in that regard."

CNN's Helen Regan contributed to this report.

Coral ReefUNESCO

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2021-07-22

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