HORIZON INTERNATIONAL SOLUTIONS SITE

Sunrise over the Everglades. NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS) Collection Photograph by Richard Frear National Park Service

A U.N. panel has declared the Florida's Everglades to be an endangered World Heritage site due to the wetlands' continued degradation, officials said on Friday, 30 July 2010.

The wetlands' water inflows have fallen by up to 60 percent and pollution has produced excess plant growth and a decline in marine species, the World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization said at a meeting in Brasilia.

Agricultural and urban development have been the main reasons for the decrease in water quality and flow.

Sawgrass prairie in Everglades National Park north of Anhinga Trail. The primary feature of the Everglades is the sawgrass prairie. Photograph courtesy of Moni3 from Wikipedia.

It is the second time the Everglades National Park, a wetlands refuge for birds and reptiles and largest mangrove ecosystem in the western hemisphere, has been added to the List of World Heritage in Danger. The agency made the decision after a request from the United States.

Bob Freer of Everglades Alligator Farm in Homestead, Florida, walks through a group of American alligators as they wait for feeding, October 2, 2006. Photograph by Hans Deryk

The Everglades, known for its sawgrass prairies and alligators, were first declared an endangered site in 1993 following damage caused by Hurricane Andrew. The area was removed only in 2007.

"We commend the USA's request to re-inscribe the site on the danger list, and its plans for major infrastructure overhaul to restore the Everglade's fragile wetland ecosystem," Mariam Kenza Ali, IUCN World Heritage Conservation Officer, said in a statement.

A cross section of vegetation and water levels in various Everglades ecosystems. U.S. Geological Survey

Experts from Unesco and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) are to visit the site and help develop a conservation plan.

The Everglades will likely be spared the feared impact of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, U.S. government scientists said on Friday. No new oil has leaked from the well in 15 days and oil that is in the water will not travel as far as south Florida, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

(Editing by Jackie Frank for Planet Ark) 

Article courtesy of  Planet Ark.  Planet Ark is an Australian not-for-profit Environmental organization, founded in 1992. News stories, pictures and videos are sourced courtesy of the Reuters News Agency.