UNESCO Criterion vii recognizes the Great Barrier Reef’s exceptional natural beauty.
The Great Barrier Reef was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1981 under natural criteria. Criterion vii concerns areas containing superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance.
The reef’s nomination also recognized other values, including major geological and ecological processes, outstanding biodiversity and important habitats for threatened species. These different criteria describe distinct reasons for its international significance.
Criterion vii is sometimes confused with UNESCO cultural criteria, which are numbered separately and concern human history, architecture or cultural traditions. The Great Barrier Reef is listed as a natural World Heritage property, not a cultural one.