THE STRAITS TIMES: Unesco removed the Mesoamerican coral reef in Belize from its list of threatened World Heritage Sites on Tuesday (June 26), praising the Central American country for its “visionary” steps to protect it.
The reef – the second largest in the world, after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia – is an underwater playground for hundreds of varieties of tropical fish, sea turtles, manta rays, sharks and many more species.
It spent nearly a decade on the endangered list, prompted by concerns over Belize’s plans to allow oil exploration nearby, unchecked construction on shore and the general lack of laws to protect the site.
But Unesco praised the country for taking action to reverse the trend.
“A visionary plan to manage the coastline was adopted in 2016,” said the United Nations body at a meeting in Manama, Bahrain.