CANBERRA, Australia — Australia has pledged A$1 billion ($700 million) in funding to help protect the Great Barrier Reef as the government looks to burnish its green credentials ahead of a national election due by May.
The package will help support an attraction that employs 64,000 workers and brings in A$6.4 billion in tourism revenue every year, according to a statement late Thursday. Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government has been heavily criticized not just for its handling of the reef but for its climate policy, which some say has endangered Earth’s largest living structure.
The Great Barrier Reef, located in the north of Queensland state, is one of the seven natural wonders of the world and home to more than 600 types of corals and 1,600 species of fish. But it’s also been increasingly under threat in recent years due to large, repeated coral bleaching events caused by higher sea temperatures caused by climate change.
