FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Lifetime of Greatness Project?

The Lifetime of Greatness Project is a global movement celebrating the contribution the Great Barrier Reef has made to education, conservation and global action, through its nomination for the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Champions of the Earth ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’. This initiative unites Traditional Custodians, the tourism industry, schools, scientists, NGOs, Governments, and Reef communities and advocates worldwide to highlight the Reef’s immense contribution to our planet’s health and the continued need for its conservation and protection.

Why is the Great Barrier Reef being nominated for the UNEP’s Lifetime Achievement Award?

The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest living entity and one of the seven natural wonders of the world. It plays an essential role in regulating the Earth’s climate, protecting coastal communities, and supporting an incredible diversity of life. The Reef has been a leader in conservation for decades, and its enduring impact on our planet and future generations is undeniable. By nominating the Reef, we aim to raise awareness of its fragility and inspire continued global efforts to protect it and inspire the world to visit to be parts of its conservation for future generations.

Who is behind the Lifetime of Greatness Project?

The nomination for a Lifetime Achievement Award, part of A Lifetime of Greatness Project, has been submitted by the Reef Guardian Councils, on behalf of the communities they lead. Their nomination brings together not only those who live with the Reef, but government agencies, environmental groups, scientists, schools, Traditional Custodians, celebrities and advocates from around the world, all working together to celebrate and protect the Great Barrier Reef.

This project has been made possible by Tourism Tropical North Queensland, and the grant funding received from the Australian Government, under the International Tourism Recovery Program administered by Austrade.

How is this initiative helping to protect the Great Barrier Reef?

The Lifetime of Greatness Project aims to raise awareness of the contribution iconic ecosystems like the Great Barrier Reef make to our culture, society, wellbeing and economy. The Project aims to bring to life the story behind this living entity and inspire further conservation efforts that will help drive global support, advocacy and engagement to protect the Reef, and reefs around the world, for future generations.

Seeing the Reef as an individual with a life worth celebrating for its thousands of years of contribution, aims to give voices to ecosystems across the globe.

How does signing my support for the Lifetime of Greatness Project make a difference?

Signing your support is a simple way for individuals to show their support for the Great Barrier Reef’s nomination for a Lifetime Achievement Award. By signing, you join a growing global movement that highlights the reef’s significance and encourages further conservation efforts.

What is the Great Barrier Reef?

The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest living structure, stretching for over two thousand kilometres (1,400 miles), with the ecosystems it supports covering an area of 348,700 sq. km (133,000 sq. miles). Visible from space, it is considered our planet’s biggest natural wonder. It is also one of the world’s best-managed reefs, but, like all tropical coral reefs, it’s facing threats.

The Great Barrier Reef makes up 10% of the world’s coral reef ecosystems, and is one of the best known and most complex natural systems on Earth.

The Reef includes some 3,000 coral reefs, 600 continental islands, 300 coral cays and about 150 inshore mangrove islands to be explored.

Find out what the Great Barrier Reef means to us and view the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s series ‘In Great Hands’.

Why is the Great Barrier Reef important to global biodiversity?

The Great Barrier Reef – the world’s largest living structure and the only living entity visible from space – is considered our planet’s biggest natural wonder. It is also one of the world’s best-managed reefs and makes up 10% of the world’s coral reef ecosystems, making it the best known and most complex natural eco-system on Earth.

It is home to around 9,000 different species, including 1,500 types of coral, over 1,600 types of fish, 136 varieties of sharks and rays, over 30 species of whales and dolphins, and many more yet to be discovered.

Its health impacts marine ecosystems worldwide and contributes to the planet’s ecological balance. Sir David Attenborough described it as “one of the greatest and more splendid natural treasures that the world possesses. Evolved over hundreds of thousands of years it’s one of nature’s most impressive creations”.

Find out more at: DETSI, Deloitte, and Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority

How old is the Great Barrier Reef?

The earliest signs of the Great Barrier Reef are 500,000 – 600,000 years old, when the Reef was forming as the sea level had risen and fallen. However, the Great Barrier Reef as we know it today formed after the last of the ice ages and interglacial cycles, almost 10,000 years ago.

The primary reef growth began around 9,000 – 10,000 years ago and continued until approximately 4,000 – 5,000 years ago. For the most part, the sea level on the Great Barrier Reef has been relatively stable for the past 6,000 years, allowing the Great Barrier Reef to continue developing to what is present today. This puts the Great Barrier Reef we know today, at 6,000 – 10,000 years old.

It is Sea Country for many first Australians with more than 70 Traditional Owner groups along the Great Barrier Reef having connections to this unique marine environment dating back more than 60,000 years.

Find out more at: GBR Biology and Earth Observatory Nasa

What is the size of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park compared to other areas?

The Great Barrier Reef covers 344,400 sq. kilometres or 132,973 sq. miles. Compared to other destinations and landmarks around the world, it is:

Bigger than Victoria and Tasmania combined
Bigger than the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Holland combined
Roughly the same area as Japan, Malaysia or Italy
Approximately half the size of Texas
Great Britain would fit in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park 1.6 times
If laid along the coastlines of France, the Great Barrier Reef would cover 67 per cent of the total length
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park would cover 98.6 per cent of Germany
New Zealand would fit in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park 1.3 times.

What is coral bleaching?

Coral bleaching is a threat facing parts of the Great Barrier Reef. However, the most misunderstood part of coral bleaching is what it actually means. When corals face stress, they can bleach white to protect themselves, much like how humans get a fever to fight the flu. Importantly, white corals aren’t dead—they’re in protection mode.

Depending on the cause of the stress; prolonged (heat wave) or sudden (freshwater, chemical, or bacterial) exposure will cause coral mortality. Importantly the surrounding environmental factors will determine whether a bleached coral will recover.

As corals are colonial animals, they are capable of partial mortality where not all the colony dies in a stress event, making recovery possible in a relatively short time.

So, outside of heat induced mass bleaching events, individual coral bleaching is simply a natural way for corals to cope with stress.

What is the current health status of the Reef?

The Great Barrier Reef is the best managed reef on Earth, and because of the investment that is being made in its management and research, we have a very clear picture of its health and of its future.

Just like any natural system, the Reef goes through cycles of disturbance and recovery. Given that the Reef is so large – bigger than many countries – disturbances affect it at a range of local and regional scales. This means conditions on the Reef can be variable across different locations from severe bleaching events in some areas, while other areas remain vibrant and thriving.

Bleaching events are closely aligned with weather conditions that unfold over months of continued high temperatures and no relief from cloud cover, and other weather events such as cyclones and floods can cause additional stress. Taking action on climate change is essential to protecting the Great Barrier Reef and all reefs around the world for future generations.

The health of the Reef and management actions are coordinated by scientists from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences (AIMS). This includes aerial and in-water surveys to assess coral cover, colony response and prevalence.

This is bolstered by a wide network of observers, with the largest proportion of in-water information coming from the tourism sector who monitor and record observations year-round, providing data to the Eye on the Reef program and the Tourism Reef Protection Initiative.

The long-term monitoring program delivered by AIMS commenced in 1983. The 2023-24 report surveyed 94 reefs along the Great Barrier Reef and collectively, reported the highest hard coral cover since the surveys began more than 40 years ago.

To stay update to date on the health and management of the Reef, The Reef Snapshot: summer 2024-25 is produced in partnership with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, The Australian Institute of Marine Science and CSIRO. The 2024-25 Reef Snapshot addresses the recent impacts of widespread bleaching, cyclones and several severe flooding events, along with outbreaks of Crown-of-Thorn Starfish.

What other threats is the Great Barrier Reef facing?

The Great Barrier Reef is a natural wonder and the world’s best-managed reefs, but like all tropical coral reefs, it’s facing threats. Some of the primary threats on the Great Barrier Reef include global climate change, coral bleaching, Crown-of-Thorns Starfish outbreaks and over-fishing.

Global climate change is the greatest threat to the world’s coral reefs. Most coral reefs have already declined due to global sea temperatures rising and are facing irreversible change. While recent recovery demonstrates that the Great Barrier Reef is resilient, its capacity to tolerate and recover is jeopardised by a rapidly changing climate. Each sustainable choice we make at home creates a meaningful impact.

Crown-of-Thorns Starfish outbreaks cause significant damage to coral reefs across large spatial scales and are one of the major causes of coral decline across the Great Barrier Reef over the past 40 years. The Crown-of-Thorns Starfish Control Program supports coral growth and recovery by effectively controlling the coral predator to ecologically sustainable levels.

Over-fishing and illegal fishing have had detrimental impacts on the Great Barrier Reef and its inhabitants, including over-fishing of some species, damage to habitats and impacts on discarded catch. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and Department of Agriculture and Fisheries have developed sustainable practices to help combat the negative impacts of fishing, such as implementing the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Zoning Planning in 2003 which identifies where various activities, including fish, are permitted. Additional measures include fishing closure seasons to allow spawning and regeneration of species and quantity control measures for commercial and recreational fishers.

Is tourism good for the Great Barrier Reef and what tourism activities are happening to support the Reef?

Visiting the Great Barrier Reef is one of the best and most direct ways you can help with its conservation. Every visitor to the Reef pays an Environmental Management Charge (EMC) as part of their ticket price, which contributes to the day-to-day management of the marine park and funds protection and conservation activities, improving long-term resilience through interventions that provide a helping hand. Find out more on how each visitor’s EMC contributes to future conservation of the Great Barrier Reef.

The tourism regions of the Great Barrier Reef have Australia’s largest cohort of eco-certified businesses with 142 eco-certified operators, making up 30% of Ecotourism Australia’s eco-certified operators. (as at March 2025).

There are more than 70 High Standard Tourism Operators taking visitors to the marine park who have globally recognised eco-certifications. High Standard Tourism Operators have employed more than 140 Master Reef Guides who have interacted with over two million visitors on the Great Barrier Reef.

Master Reef Guides are world-leading reef interpreters and ambassadors for the Great Barrier Reef. As reef ambassadors, Master Reef Guides impart up-to-date scientific and management information about the Reef and explain what you can do to make a difference. Guides have to undergo formal training and be considered the best in reef storytelling and experience delivery. When you tour with a certified Master Reef Guide, you know you’re in the best possible hands.

Tourism is low risk and well managed through the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, through a range of sophisticated spatial planning tools. Tourism access is regulated through a permit system and multi-user zoning plan that governs where certain activities can take place – this is vitally important in the day-to-day management of the marine park and for improving long-term resilience. Most marine tourism occurs in only about 7 per cent of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

Find out more about how tourism operates sustainably on the Great Barrier Reef and the Tourism Management Action Strategy

What is being done to protect and preserve the Great Barrier Reef?

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the world’s best-managed reefs, thanks to the government support and a range of initiatives and projects which work solely for the future of the reef. The Australian and Queensland Governments are investing $4.4B AUD to protect the Reef from 2014 – 2030. This investment is going into vital projects in water quality, control of Crown-of-Thorns Starfish and Drupella, river and coastal habitat restoration and the protection of threatened species.

Additional regeneration programs and projects taking place on the Great Barrier Reef include:

As Australia’s lead managers of the Great Barrier Reef, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority work with the tourism industry, Traditional Owners, local community, and government to protect this great natural wonder. One of the programs currently taking place on the Great Barrier Reef is the Eye on the Reef Program. Eye on the Reef invites travellers to become citizen scientists by reporting observations through an app. Anyone with a smart phone can share sightings of wildlife, fish species, and special events like coral spawning.

Visiting the Great Barrier Reef is one of the best ways you can help its conservation. Every visitor to the Reef pays an Environmental Management Charge as part of their ticket price, which contributes to the day-to-day management of the marine park and funds protection and conservation activities, improving long-term resilience through interventions that provide a helping hand.

The Great Barrier Reef Foundation is an Australian non-profit organisation established in 1999 to help protect and preserve the Great Barrier Reef. The Foundation was formed in response to the first mass coral bleaching of the reef in 1998. The Great Barrier Reef Foundation is creating a future for the world’s coral reefs by protecting ocean habitats, restoring coral reefs and helping them adapt to the impacts of climate change. The Foundation has built a collaborative organisation to raise funds, invest in innovative ideas and design real-world, scalable conservation programs that are delivering breakthroughs in marine and terrestrial restoration.

The Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP) is a global leader in coral reef restoration and adaptation research and solution deployment. RRAP is a long-term research and development program to develop, test and risk-assess novel interventions to help keep the Reef resilient and sustain critical functions and values. The goal is to provide reef managers and decision-makers with an innovative suite of safe, acceptable and cost-effective interventions to help protect the Reef from the impacts of climate change, in conjunction with best-practice reef management and reducing carbon emissions.

The Guardian of the Reef program is just one of the many tourism initiatives developed to help educate travellers on the challenges of the reef and encourage visitation through the Great Barrier Reef’s High Standard Tourism operators and eco-certified operators who actively participate in the preservation of the Great Barrier Reef.

The Coral Nurture Program is a unique partnership between Researchers and Tour Operators to develop novel “stewardship” based management of economically high value Great Barrier Reef locations, with the goal to transform both ecological and social resilience to environmental change.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been linked with the Reef for 60,000 years. Prior to the Reef forming almost 10,000 years ago, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people lived on what is now the seafloor, and cultural knowledge of this time’s practices and sites still remains. After the modern-day Reef formed, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples cared for their Sea Country by interweaving their culture and spirituality with sustainable use of its resources.

First Nations Traditional Custodians recognise the Reef as their teacher, their provider and their healer and are actively involved in the preservation of the Great Barrier Reef, through projects such as the Kul-Bul project and the Reef Cooperative.

The Reef Restoration Research Project, a collaboration between tourism operator, Quicksilver Group and Reef Ecologic, is dedicated to preserving the ecological, social, and economic significance of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. This innovative initiative combines the expertise of tourism operators and scientists to restore damaged coral ecosystems, ensuring the long-term health and resilience of the Reef. By promoting sustainable tourism and fostering scientific research, the project plays a pivotal role in safeguarding one of the planet’s most iconic natural wonders for future generations.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s Reef Guardian Schools program has been running since 2003. The program encourages teachers and students to take actions that help protect the Great Barrier Reef and its connected ecosystems. 2023 marked the 20-year anniversary of the program and to-date more than 350,000 students have attended a Reef Guardian School since the program’s inception.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s Reef Guardian Councils program showcases environmentally sustainable practices undertaken by local governments in the Great Barrier Reef catchment. The program recognises that the effective management and protection of the Reef requires a coordinated effort from industries, communities and all levels of government.

Citizens of the Reef is a conservation organisation on a mission to help protect the world’s reefs. By combining people-power, AI and science, they create practical conservation programs that are being scaled for communities all around the world. They founded the Great Reef Census, a groundbreaking citizen science initiative to collect and analyse broadscale reconnaissance data from reefs worldwide, which brings together local reef communities and everyday people across the globe. Another key initiative is the Reef Cooperative; a collective of some of the Reef’s brightest minds working on a holistic reef conservation project on selected sites on the Great Barrier Reef.

The Reef Restoration Foundation (RRF) is a grassroots not-for-profit organisation.

RRF’s signature Resilience & Recovery program is designed specifically to address the increasingly frequent, severe, and widespread coral bleaching that is a manifestation of climate change.

The program aims to achieve two core objectives:

Create spawning stock in their nurseries to produce hundreds of millions of additional coral larvae every year to help build reef resilience in the good times.
Lower the nurseries during periods of warm water and wild weather to preserve spawning stock, and turbo charge reef recovery in the bad times.

While there are many conservation programs on the Reef that require ongoing support, it is important to recognise what can also be done at home. Even the seemingly smallest contributions, like the materials we use in our clothes and the detergents we use to wash them are considered with the Great Barrier Reef’s health in mind. View the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s series ‘In Great Hands’ to find out about some of the Reef’s sustainability champions.

What can the everyday person do at home to support the Reef?

While visiting the Great Barrier Reef with a High Standard Operator is one of the best ways to help the Reef and contribute to its future conservation, there are ways to help the Reef before visiting and make a difference from your couch.

You can be a Citizen of the Great Barrier Reef from your home. The Great Reef Census collects tens of thousands of images from hundreds of reefs across the Great Barrier Reef each year. They need as many people as possible from across the world to help identify what type of coral, and how much of it, they can see in the images. By taking part, you’re engaging in a massive citizen science project.

Other ways to support the Great Barrier Reef from home are by looking into your consumption habits and how to reduce them by transforming your transport – walk, ride or use an electric vehicle, reducing your power use at home and in the workplace and reducing food waste. Such collective actions are essential for ensuring the Reef’s preservation for future generations.

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