BRISBANE, Australia — Australia's Great Barrier Reef has recovered from severe bleaching and is now one of the world's healthiest coral reefs, according to a report released Tuesday.
The report by the Australian Institute of Marine Science said that almost 60 percent of the Great Barrier Reef had been affected in recent years by
coral bleaching — caused when the algae that populate and build the corals die off, turning the colorful reefs a ghostly white.
Overfishing, pollution, and sedimentary runoffs caused by coastal development are the main threats to the algae.
The report said only about 6 percent of the vast reef off Australia's northeast coast now suffers from bleaching.
"Reefs, if they are left alone and not stressed, they will recover quite rapidly," said Dr. Clive Wilkinson, who heads an international group of scientists called the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network.
The 11,900-kilometer (1,200-mile) Great Barrier Reef is the largest complex of coral reefs and islands in the world and one of Australia's most popular tourist attractions. The World Heritage–listed reef comprises more than 2,600 individual reefs and some 300 islands off the nation's east coast.
The report praised the work of the federal government's Great Barrier Marine Park Authority for preserving the reef by ensuring water quality, protecting fish stocks, and setting up marine sanctuaries.
Speaking at the release of the report on Australian reefs, Wilkinson said many of the world's coral reefs were still on "the cusp" of surviving or dying from severe coral bleaching in recent years.
However, Wilkinson said he was becoming more optimistic most would recover thanks to improved management policies by governments.
"I think we're about at the bottom of the J-curve and we're about to see major improvements in coral reefs," he said.
The main danger to coral reefs now is from global warming, he said.
