The Belize Barrier Reef has been removed from the UNESCO list World Heritage in Danger. This was decided during the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Bahrain on 26 June. The UNESCO Marine Program developed a roadmap to protect the second largest coral reef in the world. With success and with Flemish support.
The Belize Barrier Reef was placed on the list World Heritage in danger in 2009. The Flemish UNESCO Trust Fund supported two technical Unesco missions to Belize to draw up a rescue plan together with government, NGOs and experts. This plan included a pilot project in which marine spatial planning is used to protect reefs. Belize then developed an Integrated Coastal Zone Management and declared a ban for petroleum exploitation. Today, after almost ten years, the results of the plan lead to the removal of the Belize Reef from the list of world heritage in danger.
Thanks to the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, the protection of the oceans is now high on the international agenda. For Flanders, this is an important theme for many years now. There is the support for the UNESCO Marine Program through the Flemish UNESCO Trust fund. And the continuous efforts to expand Flemish expertise in this area through the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) and the IODE project office of UNESCO (International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange), both located in Ostend.
Photo: General Representative Dries Willems congratulates Patrick Faber, Deputy Prime Minister of Belize at the World Heritage Committee in Bahrain on 26 June 2018
General Representative of the Governement of Flanders to UNESCO
42e session of the Unesco World Heritage Committee