Belize saved its coral reef. It's a pattern for the rest of the world

UNESCO has decided to exclude the Belize Coral Reef from a list of endangered natural and cultural heritage that could be extinct. In the report, experts have found that there have been tremendous successes in saving this rare ecosystem.

Belize coral reef embraces the coast of the Caribbean state, over 298 kilometers in length. There are over 500 species of fish, 106 kinds of coral, several turtle species and a huge number of invertebrates. A unique inhabitant of the local ecosystem is also a broad-leaved man, up to six hundred kilos weighing herbivorous marine mammal.

This area, consisting of 400 islands and islets, three atolls and a number of mangroves, lagoons, and other places where endangered animals can live, makes up about four-fifths of the Mesoamerican coral barrier system. It begins at the Yucatan Peninsula and extends to Honduras. It is the largest coral reef in the Northern Hemisphere, and the second largest in the world - the great Australian Barrier Reef.

In 1996, the Belize reefs were listed on the UNESCO Heritage List as it is an exceptional setting where corals are in a completely virgin state. In 2009, UNESCO had to place the area on the list of objects at risk. Why? Excessive mining and penetration of heavy industry into important and undisturbed areas.

Fortunately, the Government of Belize has come to grips with the situation - it has heard environmentalists and environmental experts' objections. Over the course of nine years, the country has enacted laws that have prevented further deforestation and mining in critically important parts of the cliff.

At the same time, it has succeeded in making certain parts of the coral reefs become protected reserves where they can not be hunted and nature can evolve to their needs.

Currently, there are seven zones; make up about twelve percent of the total area of ​​the barrier reef. In autumn 2017, local legislators also approved an absolute moratorium on oil extraction and all activities associated with its search.

According to the BBC website, only a few states in the world have decided to take such a step, which have outweighed the long-term interests of ecological stability over the short-term gains from oil production. Instead, Belize will believe that its intact coral reefs will attract tourists in the long run who spend even more money in the long run.