We Don’t Know How to Save the Great Barrier Reef — Do We Need to Change the Narrative?
By: The Labs
Tags: Australia, Science, Environment, Conservation, Climate Change

A new survey has shown that although Australians do care about the Great Barrier Reef, very few of us know the best way to protect it from climate change.

Research carried out by Dr Angela Dean and Professor Kerrie Wilson at QUT’s School of Biology and Environmental Science shows that while most people cite plastic as a top concern, very few people surveyed identified climate action as a way to protect the Reef.

“The focus on plastic is easy, because it’s a very visible issue that’s had a lot of attention recently,” said Dean, an environmental and conservation social scientist with a research focus in public engagement.

“What goes on under the water is harder to focus on, and something that’s as big and intractable as climate change is difficult to make real for people.

“We need to better express how climate action is the way to save the Reef if we want to see a meaningful shift in conservation and preservation.”

The million-dollar question

The online survey asked 4000 participants to identify a concrete action they could take to preserve the health of the Reef.

25% of respondents mentioned reducing plastic use or cleaning plastic waste from waterways.

4% of respondents mentioned specific actions to reduce carbon emissions, stop fossil fuel consumption, and slow anthropogenic climate change.

“It’s a disappointing response, and it shows that our narrative about how climate change impacts the Reef isn’t making the impact it needs,” Dean said.

“While plastic waste is a legitimate problem that needs fixing, it’s potentially distracting people from climate change impacts on the Reef and the role that fossil fuels have in anthropogenic climate change.”

Moving away from fossil fuels and embracing renewables will have a positive impact on reef ecosystems. Image: P. Steeger on Getty

For Dean, the target for change may not be with the general population but with more powerful, corporate influences.

“We need to be mindful of vested interests who may want to constrain or stymy a balanced conversation about climate change.

“It is convenient for those associated with fossil fuel industries to drive the current narrative of reef health away from fossil fuels and climate change and push for a focus on ‘safer’ issues such as plastic pollution.”

A related challenge is the intense polarisation in the Australian population around issues of climate change, and the division of thinking along strict political lines.

“Australia has been remarkably polarised politically when it comes to climate change, and this results in some people interpreting climate science to align with their political world views,” Dean said.

Make a small change or a cause big ripple

Real change, according to Dean, can be created by ripples of public movement, which can gain enough momentum to drive meaningful corporate and governmental change.

“Actions that can help the reef fall into either the private or public sphere of behaviour,” Dean explained.

“The private sphere is individual actions, like turning off lights, taking public transport, eating less red meat, or driving an electric car.

“These actions all have an impact on emissions and climate change, but without institutional change the scope of the impact is limited.

“The public sphere is where larger scale difference will be made — and while the public sphere may seem intimidating and hard to change, there are still individual actions people can take to put pressure in the right places.”

Public sphere behaviours include:

voting for parties with strong environmental policies

choosing banks and superannuation funds that divest from fossil fuels

donating money and time to climate action groups

writing to politicians and law makers to influence their policy decisions.

“We have evidence of governments being receptive to public opinion before, so that’s where we need people to apply pressure and make more of an impact,” Dean said.

“It was public pressure that protected the Reef from drilling in the 1960s. And public pressure can help push for stronger climate action.

“There are a lot of options to create change in this area.”

A new way of communicating

Dean will take the findings of this research to climate change and reef protection organisations to show them the gap in current public opinion, which they can then address through advertising, advocacy and public engagement.

“I’d like to see us harness the iconic nature of the Great Barrier Reef to become a flagship ecosystem for climate action,” Dean said.

A healthy reef is still possible with the right public attitude, and the right action. Image: Colin Baker via Getty

“People have good will towards the reef and other iconic Australian ecosystems. We need to harness that pride and desire to help the reef, show people what they can do to save it, and help them to do it.”

This means not only empowering people with the tools and knowledge to create change, but also devising a new way of communicating the Reef’s struggle and the importance of saving it.

“Often the Reef is thought of in terms of the picturesque marketing images we see, rather than the harsh reality of its decline,” Dean said.

“This creates the idea of the Reef as a beautiful, healthy ecosystem and it becomes out of sight and out of mind.

“We know people respond to local threats and challenges more easily because it’s something they can see, feel or interact with. The crown-of-thorns starfish is a great example of how we can focus attention on one aspect of reef endangerment: it’s a single threat to the ecosystem that’s easy to see, understand and combat.”

In general, Dean notes, people like the idea of the Great Barrier Reef, and they want it to thrive into the future. The challenge lies in presenting methods to make meaningful change in ways that people will identify with, understand and action.

“We need to communicate the threat to the Reef in more concrete, tangible terms that make tackling climate change not only urgent but something we can do,” Dean said.

“For example, we could focus people’s attention on saving a particular species that’s endemic to the Reef, and the actions needed to save that animal would trickle down to better Reef health overall.

“We need to change the narrative to show that people what they can do, to empower them to make good choices and influence that public sphere.

“Not everyone needs to take the same step at the same time and making a positive impact on climate change in any way is going to benefit the Reef.”

More information

Contact Dr Angela Dean.

Explore more research at QUT.