GENEVA (AP) – Climate change is damaging the UN’s most valuable heritage sites, a major conservation firm warned Wednesday, reporting that Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and dozens of other herbal wonders face serious threats.
Climate change, which has led to the reduction of glaciers, more intense fires, floods and droughts and the bleaching of coral reefs, are among the 83 of the 252 World Heritage sites indexed through UNESCO, the United Nations cultural agency.
Sixteen World Heritage sites have deteriorated since the publication of the last World Heritage Perspective 3 years ago, while eight have improved, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, made up of governments and civil society groups, said, and advises UNESCO on threats to herbs.
“World Natural Heritage sites are among the most valuable places in the world and we must protect them for generations in the long run,” said IUCN Director-General Bruno Oberle. to the discoloration of corals to common and severe fires and droughts. “
The report says the Great Barrier Reef, where ocean warming, acidification and excessive weather have contributed to the decline of corals and the decline of marine populations, is one of the 4 sites in Australia under “very high” threat.
The islands of the Gulf of California spaces in Mexico have also entered the “critical” category of the list. Spain’s Garajonay National Park, U. S. Olympic National Park and Mexico’s Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve are among those threatened “very strongly”. according to the new report.
According to her, while 63% of heritage sites are classified as “good” or “good with some concerns,” 30% are “worrying” and 7% are in “critical” form.
Unlike the last two IUCN reports, climate substitution has overshadowed “invasive alien species,” such as when rodents, fish or plants are transplanted into new environments, as the maximum risk to those sites.
Human activities such as tourism, fishing and grazing have also had an impact.