Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Avoids UNESCO’s ‘In Danger’ List for Now

Darwin, 04 July : Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, one of the country’s biggest tourist attractions, has for now avoided being placed on the United Nations’ “List of World Heritage in Danger.” However, UNESCO has expressed deep concern over the impacts of climate change and widespread coral bleaching affecting the reef.

The report was published by AFP.

Australia on Saturday welcomed a draft decision by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to maintain the World Heritage status of the 2,300-kilometre (1,426-mile) coral reef, which stretches along the coast of Queensland.

Since 2021, UNESCO has monitored the reef annually. That year, the agency warned that it could eventually be added to the “World Heritage in Danger” list.

In a draft report released in Paris on Friday, UNESCO acknowledged Australia’s efforts to tackle climate change, improve water quality, promote sustainable fisheries management, and strengthen controls on land clearing.

However, the report noted that hard coral cover across the reef declined significantly during 2024–25. Due to unusually high sea temperatures, the reef experienced its sixth major coral bleaching event since 2016.

The reef is also under increasing pressure from extreme weather events, polluted runoff from land, coastal development, and outbreaks of the crown-of-thorns starfish.

UNESCO said, “Although the reef continues to show resilience, its capacity to recover from and adapt to these pressures is steadily declining, which is a matter of serious concern.”

Last year, Australia strengthened its environmental laws to increase restrictions on deforestation in reef catchment areas. Nevertheless, UNESCO has called for stronger action, particularly to address dredging and overfishing.

Lisa Schindler, Campaign Manager at the Australian Marine Conservation Society, said significant gaps still remain.

In a statement, she said, “The Great Barrier Reef contributes around A$9 billion (US$6.9 billion) to the economy each year and supports nearly 77,000 jobs. We need to do much more to protect it. Even though UNESCO has decided not to place it on the ‘in danger’ list, stronger conservation measures are still urgently needed.”

Australia is required to submit another progress report to UNESCO in 2028.