UNESCO hails Australian plan to protect Great Barrier Reef

The U.N.'s cultural agency UNESCO welcomed on June 6 commitments from Australia to protect the Great Barrier Reef, with the government pledging 4.4 billion Australian dollars ($2.9 billion) to safeguard the natural wonder.

The fate of the reef has been a recurrent source of tension between UNESCO and Australian authorities in recent years, with the U.N. agency threatening to put the world's largest coral system on a list of "in danger" global heritage sites.

Behind-the-scenes diplomacy from Australia has averted such a move while fresh commitments from the Labor government of Anthony Albanese, made in a letter seen by AFP, drew praise from the Paris-based organization.

"UNESCO welcomes Australia's decision to implement urgent new protection measures to safeguard the Great Barrier Reef recommended by UNESCO," UNESCO said in a statement sent to AFP.

Australian Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek announced on June 5 that gillnets - vertical nets that can be up to kilometer long - are to be phased out by 2027 in a bid to conserve fish populations and prevent the deaths of turtles and dolphins.

In a letter sent to UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay last week, Plibersek also pledged "combined investment of 4.4 billion Australian dollars" ($2.9 billion) from the state Queensland and federal governments to protect the reef.

"Our governments are pleased to further commit substantial actions to secure the future of the Reef," Plibersek wrote on May 25.

Albanese's center-left government, which ended nearly a decade of conservative rule in May last year, has implemented a series of ambitious policies to protect the environment and commit Australia to more demanding climate change targets.

In February, it blocked a planned coal...