BIODIVERSITY
EARNING REWARDS BY CARING FOR FRAGILE ECOSYSTEMS
QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA
Photo: Ank Kumar / Wikimedia
Tropical North Queensland in Australia is a popular destination to visit the Great Barrier Reef. It is also a place where international visitors can earn rewards while learning about and caring for a fragile ocean ecosystem affected by climate change.
What's
changing
Climate change has caused significant damage to reef systems around the world. Many travelers are curious about visiting these fragile ecosystems but are unsure how to do this without damaging them further and often believe that reefs are beyond help. Preserving these delicate habitats requires excursions that protect reefs, monitor their health and create new advocates for climate action.
What's already
possible
North Queensland is a key gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ), the region’s destination management organization, is leading the development of a program that incentivizes international visitors to become reef guardians before and during their trips. TTNQ built the program to represent the entirety of the Great Barrier Reef and all destinations along the reef, extending the goal of protecting the world’s largest living organism.
Seizing
the opportunity
The “Guardian of the Reef” program informs visitors about the reef’s cultural and natural significance, recommends they use ecocertified partners, shares opportunities to donate to reef research and conservation, and encourages them to stay connected to key issues after they return home. Through a partnership with Expedia, travelers complete educational modules and earn rewards that can be redeemed with ecotourism operators on the Great Barrier Reef. This approach helps travelers learn throughout their trip planning process, gain awareness of key issues related to marine ecosystems and apply what they learned to reduce the negative impacts of their trips.
Standout
tactic
Expedia hosts the program that guides new Guardians of the Reef to ecotourism operators and has committed to donating 50,000 U.S. dollars to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
How
it helps
“Guardian of the Reef,” which launched on September 5, 2024, educates people about reef-positive travel, encourages sustainable travel choices, and features more than 100 operators and accommodations that have at least one certification through environmental certification schemes with Ecotourism Australia, EarthCheck or the Zoo and Aquarium Association. TTNQ worked to broaden the benefits of the program at the outset by engaging tourism organizations that have a coastline adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef. “Guardian of the Reef” directly supports larger initiatives from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, including “Eye on the Reef” and the “Great Reef Census.”
Diving
deeper
How can policy makers and industry leaders balance the need for conservation funding from long-haul tourism with the need to reduce the aviation industry's contribution to climate change?
Increasing
impact
The name, “Guardian of the Reef,” is not specific to a location, being designed for reefs around the world to adopt the program and spread awareness about the impacts of climate change and reef threats, such as crown-of-thorns starfish. This kind of program can show travelers vacation choices that support organizations protecting reef ecosystems around the world.
Traveling
better
Travel is inherently carbon intensive. Whether you are taking a mini-break or an annual vacation, consider ways to minimize your impact by staying longer in one place, reconsidering how you travel to the destination, and supporting businesses that are working to make their community and the world a better place.
