In a new ongoing series, Afar is asking a deceptively simple question: What does a UNESCO World Heritage designation actually do? This episode starts in North Queensland, Australia, home to two UNESCO sites that sit side by side: the Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics, which includes the Daintree Rainforest.
First, host Aislyn Greene talks with Dr. Eric Fisher, a marine biologist and Biology Manager at GBR Biology, about why Great Barrier Reef snorkeling remains the most direct way to connect with a reef system that’s home to more than 600 kinds of coral, six of the world’s seven sea turtle species, and more than 1,500 species of fish.
Fisher explains how a 1960s-70s campaign to stop oil mining on the reef led to the 1975 Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act and, eventually, the reef’s 1981 UNESCO inscription—and why the reef has spent over a decade at the center of debate over whether it should be listed as “endangered” due to climate change, coral bleaching, and crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks.
Fisher also opens up about building GBR Biology, the team of marine biologists and First Nations culture guides who lead guided Great Barrier Reef snorkeling tours for the tourism company Experience Co. (which also owns Reef Magic), and why he believes every traveler should experience the reef in person—ideally more than once, since it changes by the tide, the season, and even the hour.
Then the episode heads inland to the Daintree Rainforest, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1988 as part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland.
Juan Walker, owner and head guide of Walkabout Cultural Adventures, discusses growing up on Kuku Yalanji country, teaching Kuku Yalanji language in local schools, and what the Queensland government’s 2021 handback of more than 160,000 hectares to the Eastern Kuku Yalanji people has—and hasn’t—meant for his community’s access to traditional land.
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
Dr. Eric Fisher is Biology Manager at GBR Biology, a division of Experience Co. that leads guided Great Barrier Reef snorkeling tours out of Cairns and Port Douglas. A fish ecologist by training, Fisher built GBR Biology’s team of marine biologists and First Nations culture guides after years leading snorkel programs for Reef Magic.
Juan Walker is the owner and head guide of Walkabout Cultural Adventures, which he founded in 2008. Born in Mossman, Queensland, Walker is Kuku Yalanji on his father’s side and Torres Strait Islander on his mother’s side, and teaches Kuku Yalanji language at a local school.
CHAPTERS
00:00:00 Welcome to the Great Barrier Reef
00:03:15 Oil Plans and World Heritage
00:05:45 Endangered or Not?
00:09:05 Guided Snorkel Tours With Eric
00:15:55 Daintree on Kuku Yalanji Country
00:20:40 Is It Really Land Back?
LINKS & RESOURCES
Explore Afar's coverage of North Queensland
Meet the Indigenous Women Who Are Saving Australia’s Great Barrier Reef
Podcast: Riding Higher, Down Under
The Great Barrier Reef’s Great Big Complicated Story
Fewer Travelers Visit This Part of the Great Barrier Reef. They’re Missing Out.
Travel with Juan and Eric
GBR Biology—guided Great Barrier Reef snorkeling and reef conservation tours led by Dr. Eric Fisher’s team
Walkabout Cultural Adventures—Juan Walker’s Kuku Yalanji cultural tours in the Daintree
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority—background on reef management and conservation
UNESCO World Heritage List: Great Barrier Reef
UNESCO World Heritage List: Wet Tropics of Queensland
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