General News
19 January, 2026
Reef ideas win top awards
TWO international campaigns celebrating the Great Barrier Reef have earned Tourism Tropical North Queensland the initiative of the year in the global Regenerative Travel Impact Awards 2025.
The finalists in this category represent bold, forward-thinking initiatives that place regeneration, resilience and renewal at the centre of their work – going beyond surface-level sustainability to create lasting, measurable impact.
Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ) CEO Mark Olsen said the Guardian of the Reef campaign and The Lifetime of Greatness Project were world-first initiatives to draw attention to the value of the Great Barrier Reef and how visiting the World Heritage area helps its future.
“It is a great honour for these ground-breaking marketing projects to be recognised for their role in redefining what meaningful action can achieve for people, communities and ecosystems,” he said.
“TTNQ united Great Barrier Reef tourism operators in October 2024 to launch Guardian of the Reef to show that experiencing the Reef is one of the most powerful ways to protect it. Once people see it, they love it and want to protect it.
“The second initiative, The Lifetime of Greatness Project (alifetimeofgreatness.com), launched globally on Earth Day in April 2025.
“The project nominated the Great Barrier Reef as the first non-human recipient of the United Nations Environment Program’s Champions of the Earth Lifetime Achievement Award.”
