| Dear NEVILLE,
(There’s a heap of important statistics in this email, then a link to an awesome virtual reality Reef experience toward the end – if you just want to go straight to the link, click here)
Get this – last month, research agency YouGov asked 6,000 people from 6 different countries some questions about the Great Barrier Reef. Here’s what they found:
64% of people were either “outraged” or “concerned” by planned industrial expansion of the Reef – the world’s largest coral reef ecosystem.
When asked what actions they would support their governments’ taking at the upcoming World Heritage meeting, over three-quarters of respondents chose “calling on UNESCO to maintain strong oversight of the condition of the Reef until its health has been secured” (77 per cent).
A clear majority also wanted their country to declare support for the protection of the Reef (73 per cent) and to hold the Australian government accountable (70 per cent). In fact, two-thirds (67 per cent) supported directly calling on the Australian Government to significantly increase protection for the Reef, even if this creates diplomatic tensions or has negative consequences for trade.
These are powerful findings – it shows the world is hearing us.
And here’s the good news: five of the countries polled currently sit on the 21 member World Heritage Committee. So we’ve got a real chance that when the Committee votes on the future of the Great Barrier Reef they’ll be listening to their citizens.
Combined with the more than 500,000 people who’ve now signed our petition, there’s now a strong chance the Committee will vote to keep the Australian Government on parole.
Soon our team will be on the ground in Bonn, showing ambassadors from many of those countries a virtual reality dive tour we’ve developed to highlight the incredible beauty of the Great Barrier Reef. I wanted you to have a chance to see it too. If you click here you can go on a virtual reality dive tour of the Great Barrier Reef – it’s pretty spectacular.
It works on a desktop computer, but it’s even better on a smartphone. Even better, get yourself a pair of cardboard goggles – the plans to make them are here (click download kit) – and it’s like a virtual reality tour of the Reef. Enjoy it!
Thanks for everything you’ve done to help so far,
Richard Leck
Great Barrier Reef Campaigner
WWF-Australia
P.S. In case you missed it yesterday, our new video featuring some amazing celebrity Reef Ambassadors is on facebook here. So far, it’s been shared nearly 1000 times! |
