World's second largest coral reef no longer endangered

The reef is the biggest in the Northern Hemisphere. Photo / Getty Images

The Belize Coral Reef, the second largest in the world and the largest in the Northern Hemisphere, has been removed from the Unesco endangered list.

The reef is no longer facing immediate danger from development, according to the New York Times.

"In the last two years, especially in the last year, the government of Belize really has made a transformational shift," Fanny Douvere, co-ordinator of the marine programme at Unesco's World Heritage Centre, said, quoted by the New York Times.

Mangrove cutting and excessive development, as well as oil exploration, were only contributing reasons that led to the reef being added to the endangered list back in 2009.

Experts warn that, despite the good news, it is but a drop in an ocean of problems coral reefs still face, especially with ocean warming.

The Great Barrier Reef has been suffering with rising temperatures over the past few years and scientists say the same issue is affecting the Belize reef, where they have detected coral bleaching, which is connected to unusually warm water.

The Belize Coral Reef stretches over 200 beautiful miles (about 300km) and became a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1996.