Think of scuba diving in Australia and what’s one of the first things that come to mind? The Great Barrier Reef.
As one of the natural wonders of the world, this beautiful part of Australia is one of the country’s biggest tourist attractions offering divers and snorkelers the chance to have some fantastic marine life encounters.
In 2013, the Australian Government approved a plan to expand on the Abbot Point coal terminal, one of the five major ports in Queensland that lie on the Great Barrier Reef coastline.
YouNesco, a new initiative created by WWF (World Wildlife Fund), anticipates that the decision to dredge the Abbot Point Port seabed will result in:
- 100,000,000 tonnes of dredge spoil dumped in world heritage waters
- 4 new mega ports, including one of the biggest coal ports in the world
- 7000 industrial ship across the reef each year
The Fight for the Reef campaign is a partnership between WWF-Australia and the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS), together working with the Australian community to protect the $6 billion tourism industry and the 60,000 jobs the Great Barrier Reef supports.
You can have your say into whether the Australian Government should do more to protect the Great Barrier Reef to avoid any potential damage to one of Australia’s greatest scuba diving sites. To submit your vote, visit www.younesco.org and join the discussion on social media by using the #FightfortheReef hashtag.
As a proud supporter of Project AWARE Foundation, PADI works closely with Project AWARE on two main areas of ocean conservation; Sharks in Peril and Marine Debris. For more information on how you can be involved visit www.projectaware.org.
