Sydney, Australia
Reuters
A UNESCO heritage committee on Tuesday stopped short of listing Australia’s Great Barrier Reef as a site that is “in danger” but warned the world’s biggest coral reef ecosystem remained under “serious threat” from pollution and the warming of oceans.
A colony of mushroom leather coral grows on the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Cairns, Australia, on 25th October, 2019. PICTURE: Reuters/Lucas Jackson/File photo
UNESCO RECOMMENDS ADDING VENICE TO LIST OF WORLD HERITAGE SITES IN DANGER
UNESCO experts have recommended that Venice and its lagoon be added to its list of World Heritage in Danger as Italy is not doing enough to protect the city from the impact of climate change and mass tourism.
UNESCO World Heritage Centre experts regularly review the state of the UN cultural agency’s 1,157 World Heritage sites, and at a meeting in Riyadh in September, a committee of 21 UNESCO member states will review more than 200 sites and decide which to add to the danger list.
For nearly 10 of these sites, the experts recommend that member states put them on the danger list, among which already are the historic centre of Odessa, Ukraine, the town of Timbuktu in Mali, and several sites in Syria, Iraq and Libya. Other sites recommended to be put on the danger list this year are the cities of Kyiv and Lviv in Ukraine.
“Resolution of long-standing but urgent issues is hindered by a lack of overall joint strategic vision for the longterm preservation of the property and low effectiveness of integrated coordinated management at all stakeholder levels,” UNESCO said.
UNESCO said corrective measures proposed by the Italian state are “currently insufficient and not detailed enough.” It added that Italy “has not been communicating in a sustained and substantive manner since its last Committee session in 2021, when UNESCO had already threatened to blacklist Venice.
The agency said it hoped that “such inscription will result in greater dedication and mobilisation” of local and national stakeholders to address long-standing issues.
A spokesperson for the Venice municipality told Reuters the city “will carefully read the proposed decision published today by the Center for UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee and will discuss it with the government”.
Venice, known for its canals and cultural sites, has been struggling with mass tourism for years. On a single day during the 2019 Carnival, some 193,000 people squeezed into the historic centre. Venice has been preparing to introduce a fee for day-trippers to control visitor numbers, but has been delayed by objections.
– GEERT DE CLERQ and AUGUSTIN TURPIN in Paris, France, and FEDERICA URSO in Rome, Italy/Reuters
Australia has been lobbying for years to keep the reef – which contributes about $A6 billion to the economy and supports 64,000 jobs – off the endangered list as it could lead to losing the heritage status, taking some shine off its attraction for tourists.
UNESCO – the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – in November said the reef should be put on the danger list after frequent coral bleaching events.
But in the latest report, the panel “noted with appreciation” the commitments and initial actions by the Australian government to preserve the reef.
“The draft decision cites ‘significant progress’ being made on climate change, water quality, and sustainable fishing – all putting the reef on a stronger and more sustainable path,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said during a media briefing.
But he acknowledged the UNESCO draft decision does not put the reef “in the clear” and that more steps were needed to keep it off the endangered list.
The centre-left Labor government has pledged $A1.2 billion to protect the reef, withdrawn federal funding for dams and denied permission for a coal mine that it said could have affected the reef’s water quality.
The UN panel has asked the government to submit a progress report by February 2024.
The World Wide Fund for Nature-Australia said UNESCO could place the reef on the endangered list if the government failed to demonstrate progress on existing commitments.
“UNESCO has kept the Australian and Queensland governments on probation,” said WWF-Australia Head of Oceans Richard Leck. “There’s an opportunity for Australia to lift its game before it is required to provide a progress report…next year.”
