Australian Government Hopes UNESCO Won’t Blacklist Great Barrier Reef

By David Gray

LADY ELLIOT ISLAND, Australia, June 29 (Reuters) – With the Australian solar illuminating the crystal clear waters of the Great Barrier Reef in all their glory, UNESCO World Heritage delegates snorkelled for hours surrounded by manta rays, dolphins and reef sharks.

Their mission was to examine the well being of the world’s largest dwelling ecosystem, 1000’s of multi-coloured coral reefs stretching over 2,000 km (1,200 miles) off the northeast coast which herald billions of {dollars} a 12 months in tourism. Some coral has been badly broken and a few animal species, together with dugong and huge inexperienced turtles, are threatened.

UNESCO will announce on Wednesday whether or not it’s going to place the reef, bigger than the United Kingdom, Holland and Switzerland mixed, on a listing of endangered World Heritage websites, a transfer the Australian authorities needs to keep away from in any respect prices.

Such a list might result in restrictions on transport and port expansions that might hit Australia’s commerce in commodities and power.

Government ministers have been lobbying arduous abroad, whereas the UNESCO delegates snorkelled within the least broken space of the reef following a warning by the UN physique that the reef risked a blacklisting.

Peter Gash, managing director of the Lady Elliot Island Eco-Resort on the southern finish of the reef, hopes it’s mission achieved for the federal government.

“I have no doubt that they (UNESCO delegates) had a perception that the barrier reef was dead. That it was doomed, it was down, it was in a bad place. And that’s not the case at all,” Gash advised Reuters.

“It’s my belief, and it’s the belief of many people, that the barrier reef has turned the corner and it’s slowly improving.”

But not everyone seems to be satisfied. In 2010, a Chinese coal service ran aground on the reef, scary a global outcry. Since then, there was renewed concern about growth, significantly coal mining within the northeastern state of Queensland and transport.

Greenpeace stated 50 p.c of the reef’s coral cowl had been misplaced within the final 30 years. Earlier this 12 months, UNESCO stated the reef’s outlook was “poor”.

The authorities says UN delegates spent the majority of their go to to Queensland listening to detailed scientific rundowns on the reef.

Locals stated the guests spent lots of time cavorting with the animals at one of many few remaining unspoiled stretches of the reef.

Felicity Wishart, Great Barrier Reef marketing campaign director on the Australian Marine Conservation Society, has little question why Lady Elliot Island was chosen for the sphere journey.

“It’s one of the most stunning islands in the reef system. It’s also in the outer reef … So it’s about as far east of the coastline that you can get,” she advised Reuters, stating that almost all harm is completed nearer to the mainland.

“We have to look at the overall health of the reef, not just an individual spot.”

Wishart pointed to a 2014 report launched by the Great Barrier Marine Park Authority, wherein main questions had been raised in regards to the reef’s future.

“There is no doubt that the reef is still in serious environmental danger,” she stated.

(For an image gallery, please click on on http://widerimage.reuters.com/story/great-barrier-reef-at-risk) ($1 = A$1.3) (Additional reporting by Sonali Paul in Melbourne and Matt Siegel in Sydney; Editing by Nick Macfie and Sonya Hepinstall)