Hoping to influence decisionsabout preserving the Great Barrier Reef, Australian economists have placed a staggering price tag on the world’s largest living thing.

According to Deloitte Access Economics, , or $56 billion in Australian dollars.

“That's more than 12 Sydney Opera Houses, or the cost of building Australia's new submarines,” the researchers wrote. “It’s even more than four times the length of the Great Wall of China in $100 notes.”

According to CNN, the market value of the reef is such as Honda and BMW.

(MORE: )

For the past two years, the delicate underwater ecosystem has been triggered by waters warmed by climate change. Bleaching occurs when corals are stressed by changes in their environment, leading them to discharge tiny photosynthetic algae, known as zooxanthellae.

“Today, our reef is under threat like never before,” Great Barrier Reef Foundation Chair John Schubert said in the foreword of the report. “Two consecutive years of global coral bleaching are unprecedented, while increasingly frequent extreme weather events and water quality issues continue to affect Reef health. So there has never been a more critical time to understand precisely what the Reef contributes and, therefore, what we stand to lose without it.”

According to Deloitte, the reef contributes $6.4 billion in Australian dollars to the nation’s economy every year. In addition to being more to more than 1,700 species of fish and other marine life, it supports 64,000 jobs, more than any other corporate company in Australia.

“The livelihoods and businesses the reef supports across the nation far exceed the numbers supported by industries we would consider too big to fail,” states the report.

(MORE:)

While calculating the reef’s worth, the economists factored in scientific research in addition to it’s social, economic and asset value. Over half of the estimated amount comes from Australians visiting the reef as tourists, with another $18 billion stemming from people who value the reef based on its iconic status but have yet to visit.

Just over $2 billion comes from people who use the reef on a daily basis.

"With the reef under threat, our report is a major step in looking to and using this information to help inform what we do to protect and save important natural assets,” Deloitte partner John O’Mahony said in a statement obtained by the Sydney Morning Herald.

Australia’s efforts to preserve the reef include as impacts arise, including climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts into their plans, improving the quality of the water around the reef, and reducing local pressures, according to a release from the government.MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Great Barrier Reef Bleaching