DHAKA: Unesco on Saturday urged decisive action from Australia to protect the Great Barrier Reef from a gas and mining boom, warning it risked being put on its list of world heritage sites deemed ‘in danger’.
Australia is riding an unprecedented wave of resources investment due to booming demand from Asia, with projects worth A$450 billion in the pipeline, report agencies.
The world’s largest coral reef is not yet at sufficient risk to be declared in danger but Unesco said the sheer number and scale of proposals including liquefied natural gas (LNG), tourism and mining projects could threaten it.
Declining water quality and climate change were the major threats and it was ‘essential to reduce development and other pressures as much as possible to enable an increase in the reef’s resilience’, Unesco’s World Heritage Committee said.
BDST: 2101 HRS, JUN 2, 2012
Edited by Robab Rosan, Cultural Affairs Editor
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