OREANDA-NEWS.  UN organisation Unesco has given Australia the all-clear on its management of the Great Barrier Reef, but has given it five years to halt any further deterioration. The decision affects development of Australia's coal and LNG sector, which load shipments in areas close to the reef.

To receive yesterday's decision from Unesco, which had considered placing the world's largest coral reef system on its danger list, the Queensland state and Australian federal governments have had to ban dumping of dredging material in the seas surrounding the reef during the making of deeper shipping channels.

The Queensland government had also had to narrow the number of ports that it can allow further development, as well as forcing both governments to improve water quality measuring and management practices. Canberra has pledged that A\\$2bn (\\$1.54bn) will be spent on improving the health of the Great Barrier Reef during the next decade.

The Queensland government this year has unveiled a new ports strategy that will focus any new development on Townsville, Abbot Point, Gladstone, and Hay Point/Mackay, with limited development of other or new ports to protect the Great Barrier Reef. All of these ports include Queensland's key coal ports and Gladstone where six LNG production trains are located.

Climate scientists have said that the warming of the oceans from climate change will affect the health of the Great Barrier Reef. Environmental groups have used the protection of the reef as an issue in their campaign to stop development of the coal deposits in the Galilee basin in northern Queensland, saying it will lead to more shipping in the seas surrounding the reef.