G Adventures launches new Planeterra Project to help save the reef

Magical hard coral reef showing signs of minor coral bleaching.

G Adventures and their non-profit partner Planeterra have teamed up with Australian conservation group Reef Ecologic in a bid to boost coral growth on the Great Barrier Reef.

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Through the partnership, Planeterra has provided Reef Ecologic with a grant to expand their coral gardening program which grows fragments of coral on frames to be replanted into robust colonies. The experience will be built into G Adventures’ tours in the region, and travellers will get to learn all about the Whitsundays, the Great Barrier Reef and reef recovery while snorkelling over a “Proudly Supported by G” coral garden.

Townsville-based Reef Ecologic will also receive an ongoing donation for every G Adventures traveller who experiences the project to help them to engage the local community in monitoring efforts to keep the coral garden alive and well.

More than 1500 travellers from around the world are expected to visit the project in its first year, with the experience available to every G Adventures traveller on an 18-to-Thirtysomethings tour on the East Coast of Australia.

Reef Ecologic 3

Regional operations manager for G Adventures Australia and New Zealand Mike McBride said the Whitsundays was one of the most popular stops on G Adventures East Coast Australian tours.

“The Great Barrier Reef is one of Australia’s most iconic tourism destinations and it’s important for travellers to have an awareness and understanding of the fragility and importance of these unique ecosystems,” McBride said.

“We’re extremely passionate not only about the traveller experience but also the sustainability and wellbeing of the areas we travel to.”

Reef Ecologic’s Whitsundays Tourism Recovery Project also designs, creates and installs underwater and inter-tidal interpretive art pieces across the Whitsunday region, aiming to promote coral restoration in the Great Barrier Reef, as well as educate travellers.

The Reef Ecologic project will mark number 76 in Planeterra’s ‘Project 100’ pledge to have 100 projects built into G Adventures tour itineraries by the end of 2020.

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