Global 'community' rallies for the Reef

The study, led by Dr. Georgina Gurney of the ARC

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Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (Coral CoE) at James Cook University, involved interviews with more than 5,000 people from 40 countries and found that where you live, doesn't necessarily determine what you care about. In fact, the data suggests that people living near or far from the Reef can develop equally strong feelings of attachment to the large and iconic World Heritage site.

This is good news for the Reef. Blighted by bleaching, the Great Barrier Reef needs all the help it can get. The findings published today suggest that resource managers should draw on the support of the global community, not only locals living adjacent to the Reef, when engaging the public.

"It's widely acknowledged that successful environmental management requires strong community engagement and support, but current approaches tend to only target locals. Our findings reveal that this view is too narrow," says Dr Gurney.

For the many ecosystems that are increasingly affected by global-scale threats, such as climate change, these results are empowering.

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-09-global-rallies-reef.html#jCp