Almost seventy thousand Australians have signed a petition to grant the Great Barrier Reef Australian citizenship in an attempt to secure rights and freedoms that would protect the world's largest living organism from the impacts of climate change.
Amongst the supporters are Aussie icons Ian Thorpe, Osher Günsberg and Stephanie Gilmore (just to name a few), with environmental heavyweights Greenpeace, the Australian Marine Conservation Society and the Oceanic Preservation Society joining the fight.
But despite positive conversations with government, a definitive decision on the movement is yet to be reached.
So Osher Günsberg has led the charge to put the power back in the hands of the Australian people, bestowing upon the Great Barrier Reef honorary citizenship and setting an example for government officials to follow.
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The Great Barrier Reef contributes more than $6.4 billion per year to the Australian economy, supporting 64,000 jobs and holding a net worth of $56 billion.
Australian tourism (particularly in far north Queensland) is largely dependent on the Great Barrier Reef drawing in tourist dollars from around the world, and to put it simply, without the Great Barrier Reef we're a little bit screwed.
On top of turning a tidy profit, the natural wonder also does a bang-up job of regulating the carbon dioxide levels in the ocean and protecting Australian coastlines from natural disasters. That's right, its side hustle is saving the planet.
But as ocean temperatures rise and water quality falls, the Great Barrier Reef is losing it's ability to look out for Australia. In fact, the Great Barrier Reef is dying at a rapid rate.
So in an effort to look out for a great Australian who has looked out for us for so long, click here and join Osher in continuing the fight to gain this natural wonder the rights and protections she so justly deserves.
Author: LADBible Australia
Featured Image Credit: LADbible Australia
Topics: Environment, climate change, Australia, Citizen Reef, Politics
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