Australia To Fund $380 Million Project To Restore Great Barrier Reef
PHILADELPHIA (CBS/CNN) -- The Australian Federal Government is pledging millions of dollars to protect the Great Barrier Reef.
The Great Barrier Reef is considered to be one of the seven natural wonders of the world and is the largest living structure on the planet. It's even visible from space.
In an announcement today, Australia's Federal Environment Minister, Josh Frydenberg, said $380 million will go towards improving water quality.
Back-to-back bleaching events in 2016 and 2017 have devastated 900 miles of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Before 2016, there had only been two bleaching events along the Great Barrier Reef in the past two decades, in 1998 and 2002.
Yesterday's record-breaking $500m investment by the @TurnbullMalcolm Govt in the #GBR is an investment not only in the future of the #Reef, but also in jobs & our economy. It reinforces the environmental, economic, social & cultural importance of the Reef: https://t.co/lcBrrZHwnv pic.twitter.com/L3mTvZpwai
— Josh Frydenberg (@JoshFrydenberg) April 30, 2018
The funds will also help with tracking threatening species and developing coral that's more resistant to high temperatures and light stress.
The reef is worth an estimated $3.7 billion annually to the Australian economy through fishing and tourism.
About 275 million people globally directly rely on reefs for livelihood and sustenance, and globally they form the nurseries for around a quarter of the world's fish, according to the UN.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. CNN contributed to this report.)