Action to Protect the Great Barrier Reef in Brisbane

Great Barrier Reef Dive Tour Operator, Anthony Fontes, speaking at a Greenpeace action in Brisbane, Australia during the UNESCO Monitoring Mission where the delegates discuss the health status of the iconic Great Barrier Reef, which is currently experiencing severe bleaching as a result of climate change.

The Whitsundays dive operator and conservationist Tony Fontes said the secrecy around this latest monitoring mission is completely at odds with the open and transparent way the previous mission operated.

“When UNESCO came to survey the health of the Reef in 2012, I was able to meet with them, along with a host of other civil society organisations and independent scientists. This time we have been deliberately excluded and I’m concerned that the government will try and mislead the mission about the true state of the Reef by only taking them to picture-perfect locations that don’t accurately represent the climate damage the entire ecosystem is under.” he said.

“The voices of communities that depend on the Reef and tourism operators like myself need to be heard. Our livelihoods depend on a healthy Reef and we want the government to do everything in its power to help protect our Reef from the impacts of climate change by rapidly transitioning from coal and gas to clean energy like wind and solar.”