Great Barrier Reef

Australia's spectacular Great Barrier Reef is experiencing its worst bleaching event on record, the country's reef authority reported on Wednesday.

Often dubbed the world's largest living structure, the Great Barrier Reef is a 2,300-kilometre (1,400-mile) long expanse, home to a stunning array of biodiversity including more than 600 types of coral and 1,625 fish species.

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.

Parts of Australia's beleaguered Great Barrier Reef now have the highest levels of coral cover seen in decades, a government report said Thursday, suggesting the aquatic wonder could survive given the chance.

Australia unveiled a billion-dollar package to protect the climate-ravaged Great Barrier Reef on Jan. 28, hoping to prevent the vast network of corals from being removed from UNESCO's World Heritage list.

The Great Barrier Reef's outlook remains "very poor" despite coral recovery over the past year, Australian government scientists said on July 19, just days before a UNESCO ruling on the site's world heritage status.

The Great Barrier Reef should be added to a list of "in danger" World Heritage Sites, a U.N. committee recommended on June 22, prompting an angry response from Australia which said it had been blindsided by the move and blamed political interference.

Australia's Great Barrier Reef has suffered its most widespread coral bleaching on record, scientists said on April 7 in a dire warning about the threat posed by climate change to the world's largest living organism.    

The government agency that manages Australia's Great Barrier Reef has downgraded its outlook for the corals' condition from "poor" to "very poor" due to warming oceans.

Australia's Great Barrier Reef will receive A$500 million ($379.10 million) in new funding to restore water quality and protect the coral from starfish attacks, government ministers announced on April 29.

BBC - Australia has pledged A$500 million (£275m; $379m) to protect the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef.

In recent years, the reef has lost 30% of its coral due to bleaching linked to rising sea temperatures and damage from crown-of-thorns starfish.

The funding will be used to reduce the runoff of agricultural pesticides and improve water quality.