Audubon of Florida applauded the re-listing of Everglades National Park as a World Heritage in Danger site, announced Friday by The World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) during its 34th annual meeting in Brasilia, Brazil.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Senator Bill Nelson, of Florida, asked the committee to put Everglades National Park back on the list. We commend these leaders for their efforts to restore international attention to the “serious and continuing degradation of its aquatic ecosystem.”

The 21-nation World Heritage Committee oversees the list of World Heritage Sites that are of significant cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of humanity. Sites that are deemed to be in jeopardy are placed on the danger list. The list focuses the attention and resources of the international community on these sites, and encourages action to address those threats.

Due to urban and agricultural development in the Everglades, water flow has decreased by 60 percent. Nutrient pollution has increased to the point where the ecosystem is showing significant signs of eutrophication, loss of marine life, and a decline in marine species.

This is the second time the Everglades has been included on this list. The Everglades was first listed in 1993, due to damages from Hurricane Andrew and the deterioration of water quality and flows from agricultural and urban development. In 2007, UNESCO removed the Everglades from the Danger list. Everglades champions and policy makers, led by Senator Nelson, called the de-listing flawed because it ignored recommendations of the scientific community, and did not reflect funding challenges for restoration.

Being restored to the list will make it easier to get preservation money both from the United Nations and local governments.