Caring for our national treasure

Take a plunge into the ocean. The water is warm, the current steady and the waves gentle. On the inner edges of the Great Barrier Reef, it’s hard to dive or snorkel without being acutely aware of what you are immersing yourself in: the underwater reality of climate change and reef decay. You see it on the news, hear about it in political debates and understand the worldwide crisis of “the reef is dying”. But what’s really happening?

The Great Barrier Reef has been evolving for more than 20 million years and has been an intrinsic part of life and culture for local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people