Aren’t we lucky? We have the largest coral reef in the world, teeming with marine life, right on our doorstep. The southern tip of the magnificent Great Barrier Reef begins just beyond the northern tip of Fraser Island, meaning we are an easy day trip away from one of the seven natural wonders of the world.
Much like our own beloved K’gari, the Great Barrier Reef is a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site and it is our duty to protect and preserve it for future generations. At least that’s what we think, but unfortunately, not everyone recognises that protecting our environment is at least as important as boosting our economy.
The Queensland and Australian governments have already approved a planned expansion of the Abbot Point coal port (between Bowen and Townsville), which would involve dumping 3m cubic metres of sand and whatever else they dredge up into the marine park area.
There is precious little time left to make our voices heard and protest against this development, so please join us and help save the reef!
Greenpeace Save the Reef petition
World Wildlife Fund petition
Save the Reef Alliance
In case you’re not quite sure why the Great Barrier Reef should be protected, read on. These are our Top reasons to save the reef
- The reef is home to over 1,500 species of fish, 411 types of hard coral, 1/3 of the world’s soft corals, 134 species of sharks and rays, 6 species of threatened marine turtles, and more than 30 species of marine mammals.
- One of the marine mammals that live on the reef is the dugong, a gentle giant that is extremely rare and threatened.
- …and Nemo. He lives there, too.
- UNESCO will decide on downgrading the Great Barrier Reef to the World Heritage ‘In Danger’ list in 2015.
- Millions of people visit the Great Barrier Reef every year and for many of them of them, a dive on the reef is the main reason for visiting Australia.
- Lots of industries, such as tourism and fishing, rely on a healthy reef. They provide a sustainable way to protect the reef while shoring up the Queensland economy – to the tune of $5.4 billion a year.
- There are numerous significant cultural sites on the Great Barrier Reef that are of great importance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Need more reasons? Greenpeace have collected one million reasons to save the reef