Australia, the land down under and the home of the Aborigines is a place that is rich of so many things, from its very colorful past and culture to its well-kept wildlife and outstanding natural resources.

One such natural resource is the Great Barrier Reef, it is considered to be one of the natural wonders of the world since it is the world?s largest coral reef ecosystem and it is also the only living organic collective that is visible from the Earth’s orbit. However, contrary to popular belief, the reef is not a continuous barrier, but a broken maze of coral reefs and coral cays.

The Great Barrier Reef is composed of roughly 3,000 individual reefs and 900 islands that stretch for 2,600 kilometers in the Coral Sea in north-east Australia. It is the home of diverse forms of marine life, there is an estimated 1,500 species of fish living in the reef and more than 300 species of hard, more than 4,000 mollusk species, over 400 species of sponges have been identified and many other marine species.

Due to its vast biodiversity, warm clear waters and its astounding view, the reef is a very popular destination for tourists, most of those are scuba divers, may they be first timers or professionals, who want to experience and see the wonderful life under the sea. Because of this great interest to the reef, many cities along the Queensland coast offer boat trips to the reef on a daily basis while several continental islands have been turned into resorts to be able to take part in the boom of tourism in Australia.

Every year, the number of tourists in Australia doubles and because of this increase in human activity in the Reef, pollutants have also increased and the reef has suffered damage. The increase in pollutants in the Reef has been a considerable concern of the Australian government because it has been Australia?s first World Heritage Area. The protection and preservation of the beauty and the lives depending on the Reef is very important that?s why they have created a committee whose only aim is the protection of the Reef and it is called the Marine Park Authority. Then, in 2003, the Australian and Queensland Governments, in partnership with a wide range of industry and community groups, have developed the Reef Water Quality Protection Reef Plan (the Reef Plan) as a combined effort to protect the Reef.

The reef represents the maturity of the existence as well as the ongoing changes and evolution of life here on earth. The diverse life forms within the Great Barrier Reef show us the beauty of life as well as the importance of having a symbiotic relationship with our environment. The Reef?s existence is important not only to humans but to the immediate species benefiting from this large ecosystem. Protection and preservation is what we should and what we need to do for them to survive and continue to exist and proliferate for many years to come.