UNESCO has removed Australia’s Great Barrier Reef from its “endangered” list. The reef is currently being adversely and significantly impacted by climate change factors, with many reefs becoming barren due to repeated bleaching events. The quality of water had also declined, due to which UNESCO had placed Australia’s Great Barrier Reef in the endangered list, but due to the efforts of the Australian government, it has been removed from this list.
The great Barrier Reef
- The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef ecosystem on Earth. It is one of the most important natural components and tourist attractions in the world and Australia.
- Recently, this reef was “critically endangered” by water pollution, warming oceans and frequent coral bleaching events. Therefore, the UNESCO committee had put the rock in the endangered list.
- The UNESCO panel released its latest report praising the Australian Government’s commitments and actions.
- Australia has been trying to remove the Great Barrier Reef from the endangered list for a long time. This was because it could lose its heritage status. This would have damaged the reef’s reputation as a major attraction in the country.
- According to reports, the reef contributes approximately 56 billion Australian dollars ($4 billion) to the economy and also provides approximately 64000 jobs.
Coral reefs
- The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system in the world. It consists of more than 2900 individual reefs and 900 islands spanning more than 2300 km.
- Coral reef is an underwater ecosystem. These reefs are made up of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate.
- Most coral reefs are made up of stony corals with polyps clustered together.
- Coral is a member of the animal phylum Cnidaria, which also includes sea anemones and jellyfish.
- Shallow coral reefs, also known as marine rainforests.
- Coral reefs thrive in ocean water with few nutrients. They are usually found at shallow depths in tropical waters, but are occasionally found on smaller scales in other areas such as deep water and cold water coral reefs.