Australia welcomes lifting of UNESCO threat to list Great Barrier Reef as World Heritage in danger

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian government has welcomed a draft UNESCO decision to a lift a threat of downgrading the Great Barrier Reef to an endangered World Heritage site. The U.N. cultural agency and the International Union for Conservation of Nature recommended in November last year that the world’s largest coral reef system be added to the List of World Heritage in Danger due to threats including rising ocean temperatures. But UNESCO issued an updated a report on Monday that said it would be appropriate to re-evaluate whether the famed tourist attraction off Australia’s northeast coast fitted the World Heritage in-danger criteria.