In 1972, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) established the World Heritage List to help protect important sites embodying the world’s cultural and natural heritage. What is the largest World Heritage Area?
A) The Great Barrier Reef (Australia) ü B) Jaú National Park (Brazil) C) Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas (China) D) The Virgin Komi Forest (Russia)
The Great Barrier Reef is by far the largest World Heritage Area, covering over 34 million hectares (131,000 sq. mi.). The most extensive coral reef system in the world, it evolved over hundreds of thousands of years and now is home to a wide diversity of sea life and birds, including the endangered green sea turtle and the dugong. It was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1981, and divided into "Protection Zones" that restrict extraction activities. The Great Barrier Reef is threatened by climate change, since the coral is sensitive to rising ocean temperatures.
