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SYDNEY, July 4 (Reuters) – Australia welcomed a draft UNESCO decision not to list the Great Barrier Reef as an endangered \u200csite, its assistant tourism minister said on Saturday, despite ongoing \u200cstruggles of the world’s biggest coral reef ecosystem with coral bleaching.<\/p>\n
The reef, which has \u200bsuffered several mass coral bleaching events in recent years, is not currently on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) list of world heritage sites that are in danger, although UN scientists have previously \u200crecommended that it should \u2060be added.<\/p>\n
Australia’s government has lobbied for years to keep the reef – which contributes more than A$9.0 billion ($6.25 billion) \u2060to the economy annually – off the list, as it could damage tourism at the site, which receives more than 2 million visitors each year.<\/p>\n
Assistant \u200bTourism Minister \u200bNita Green said the decision \u200bovernight by the UNESCO World \u200cHeritage Centre “recognises Australia’s continued efforts to protect and manage this important icon”.<\/p>\n
“Australia welcomes UNESCO’s decision to not list the reef as endangered, and recognise all of the work that’s been going into protecting the reef,” Green said in televised remarks from the capital Canberra.<\/p>\n
The reef, home \u200cto 400 types of coral and \u200b1,500 species of fish, stretches for some \u200b2,400 km (1,500 miles) off the \u200bcoast of the northern state of Queensland.<\/p>\n
Since 2016, \u200cit has experienced five summers of \u200bmass coral bleaching, \u200bwhen large sections of the reef turn white due to heat stress, putting them at greater risk of death. Climate change \u200bis a primary driver \u200cof rising sea temperatures which cause coral bleaching, according to \u200bthe Queensland government.<\/p>\n
($1 = 1.4409 Australian dollars)<\/p>\n
(Reporting by Sam McKeith \u200bin Sydney; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n