Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System

The Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1996 under criteria (vii), (ix) and (x). It is an exceptional natural system formed by the largest barrier reef in the northern hemisphere, oceanic atolls, several hundred sand cays, mangroves, coastal lagoons and estuaries, spread across seven protected sites.

It is the second largest coral system in the world after the Australian Great Barrier Reef. Its seven components illustrate the evolutionary history of reef development and constitute a significant habitat for threatened species such as marine turtles, the Antillean manatee and the American crocodile. Tourism and fishing employ roughly half the Belizean population and depend directly on the health of these ecosystems.

In 2009 the property was placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger because of the sale of land for private development within the site, the destruction of mangroves and offshore oil extraction. After an intense period of conservation action led by the Belizean government in collaboration with UNESCO, IUCN and civil society, the Committee removed it from that list on 26 June 2018. The decisive measure was a moratorium on oil exploration across the country's entire maritime zone. UNESCO called the decision a crucial moment for the Convention and for the oceans.