Belize praised for care of endangered coral reef

Unesco has removed the Mesoamerican coral reef in Belize from its list of threatened World Heritage Sites, praising the Central American country for its “visionary” steps to protect it.

The second largest reef in the world spent nearly a decade on the endangered list due to concerns over plans to allow oil exploration nearby and the lack of laws to protect the site.

“A visionary plan to manage the reef was adopted in 2016 and the level of conservation we hoped for has been achieved,” said the UN body this week.