However, the reef — which has been listed by the United Nations as a World Heritage site — remains under threat, notably from coral bleaching believed to be caused by rising sea temperatures linked to global warming.

Australia's government has refused to sign the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which imposed reductions in the production of so-called greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, saying the pact would harm its economy.

But it recently joined the United States, the other major holdout from the Kyoto deal, in a six-country pact on curbing greenhouse gases.

Meanwhile a leading conservationist in Australia for this week's congress called for the creation of a global system of marine protected areas to prevent the world's ocean resources from being depleted.

"We are talking about a network of marine protected areas that is defined from both an ecological and ecosystem perspective as well as from the perspective of the users," said Achim Steiner, director-general of the World Conservation Union.

"We now know that 15 of the world's 17 largest fisheries — where the world depends on its fish — are either at full exploitation level or in fact, declining," Steiner said on national radio.

"We need countries like Australia, but in fact every one of the 200-odd nations around the world, to try and come to agreements on new forms of ocean governance that allow us to not leave the rest of the oceans simply to anyone's whim in terms of exploiting the resources," he said.

"Marine issues are not national issues — yes, they require national action — but above all, they require nations to work together."

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