Page 98 - Port Douglas Magazine 40

ONE4PLANET,

THE SOCIAL BUTTERFLY

Port Douglas, home of the one4planet Great Barrier Reef climate movement

WORDS by Sam Cullen

On a balmy November morning the first What did registering do? of thousands of Reefys were provided to reef
ever Great Barrier Reef Marathon gun was Every registration passengers, students, council staff, community

fired by Bruno Bennett on Four Mile Beach members and influencers and their followers
in 2011. A trial event for the 2012 first ever • supported direct funding for the Forever around the country to show their participation in

Solar Eclipse Marathon the GBR Marathon Reef Project and the Reef Unlimited Reef the Great Barrier Reef Climate Movement, a first
would begin a decade of reef fundraising Recovery Day (Coral Planting) Expedition. of its kind.
and awareness under the auspice of Run for • provided an opportunity to dedicate Further acknowledgements
the Reef. an exercise / social activity to climate must be made
A brand that embodied the famous running awareness and amplify this via the
silhouette of Australia’s most celebrated runner movements social network. From the beginning it’s important we thank the
and OG event ambassador, Steve Moneghetti. • provided a reason to make a personal Queensland Government for its initial event
Thirteen years later the legacy of Port Douglas’ pledge to reduce registrants own impact funding support of the Great Barrier Reef
own internationally recognised adventure marathon on the climate and share with family and Marathon via Tourism Queensland. Moving
festival would morph into a social butterfly called friends (such as no more plastic fish sushi forward it would be a partnership between both
one4planet. soy sauce containers!) the Federal Government, through the support
of the Liberal Member for Leichhardt and then
How did it evolve? • an opportunity to support one of 3 leading Special Envoy for the Great Barrier Reef, Warren
reef charities. Entsch and the Queensland State Government
Run for the Reef after 10 years would modernise
to run4reef in 2022. The post Covid simultaneous • connected participants with thousands through the Labor Member for Barron River,
running events in 23 cities across Australian and of other Australian and New Zealanders Craig Crawford. A special mention to the present
New Zealand would attract significant attention across 17 cities/towns who care about the Commonwealth Special Envoy for the Great
and Great Barrier Reef and climate awareness, climate. Barrier Reef, QLD Senator Nita Green and her
but prove difficult to deliver with 7 events failing to • entered participants in a chance to WIN a amazing Cairns office staff for their continued
launch due to catastrophic weather events in VIC holiday to the Great Barrier Reef support.
and TAS. Ironic really :) The footprint was enough • provided an official run4planet Climate The two governments, one from either side of
however for the Port Douglas based team to Movement Certificate of Participation the isle, would commit to supporting an initiative
transition to a nationwide run4planet movement that would enable a Far North Queensland Public
in 2023 highlighting the importance of the Great How did people participate? Private Partnership (PPP) to lead the charge for a
Barrier Reef in the climate conversation and the CliM8tes as they have become known (yes, it’s nation to recognise the importance of the Great
threats it faces to be recognised similar to the the stuff of Aussie cornball - mates of the climate Barrier Reef in the climate conversation and
direct threats humans face from devastating fires - but they love it) were those who either registered share it with millions of everyday Australians and
and flooding. or participated in one of the programs. New Zealanders.
run4planet 2023 would use the network of Special thank you to the Quicksilver Group and one4planet - 2024 and beyond
winners from the 2022 events and its 12 years Reef Unlimited for their amazing partnership both Now with an established national footprint, 2024
of Run for the Reef participants to drive the here in Port Douglas and Cairns. All vessels in will aim to build on this awareness engaging
awareness across Australia and New Zealand. both of their reef tourism fleets and their reef firstly with the 3.6M Australians who directly
Pairing with 6 other registration and participation island tours engaged with passengers for the participated or engaged via the run4planet
programs run4planet would finally achieve what it entire month of October :) influencer and social media posts.
had set out to do. To Rachel, Sonya and Phil and their Quicksilver
2023 Partner Programs Cruises and Great Adventure Crews and Chris Next year will provide an opportunity for
corporate Australia to participate as well as local
• Australia’s two largest Reef Tourism Operations Koscielny, Chris Jones and Eric from the Calypso businesses at the community level. We will also
- Quicksilver Group and Reef Unlimited Cruises and Reef Unlimited (Reef Magic) Crews, be inviting and hoping the rest of the GBR reef
• 144 Reef Guardian Schools cheers and thank you! tourism community joins in for the October Reefy
• 19 Reef Guardian Councils Special thank you the Great Barrier Reef Marine program.
Park Authority (GBRMPA) and Reef Guardian Readers will have also noticed a final name
• 20 sporting, celebrity, and climate conscious Schools and Councils who received run4planet
social media influencers Participation Packs and nominated a Reef change to suit the flight of this social butterfly.
Over the last 13 years we have seen one thing
• 17 cities / towns nominated 3 community Master to coordinate an activity for the kids or that has become clearer than the light of day
and / or sporting event partners to participate. staff to dedicate to the Great Barrier Reef Climate itself and that is it will take all of us to support
Locations included Thursday Island, Port Awareness Movement and share with us all via and enable government to move the needle to
Douglas, Cairns, Townsville, Sunshine Coast, our socials. overcome climate change and its catastrophic
Brisbane, Moreton Bay, Gold Coast, Byron Bay, Finally, a special thank you to all the run4planet affects.
Sydney, Bendigo, Geelong, Adelaide, Murray CliM8te Location Managers and Influencers
Bridge, Perth, Fremantle, Auckland. who participated around the country and across Look out for one4planet in your city or town
in 2024 as we bring us all together again to
What was achieved in 2023? the ditch in Auckland coordinating community recognise the critical importance of climate
Over 5,800+ registrations, 40,000+ participants, partnerships sharing the message into 17 cities change and the Great Barrier Reef, at very least,
and towns.
600+ fundraisers and a calculated 3.6 million+ to have the conversation.
Australians and New Zealanders were reached Meet Reefy :) We are ONE4PLANET.org
by the month-long October 2023 campaign. A key player in this amazing participation was the
Reefy or run4planet headscarf or buff (if you’re a
Survivor TV fan you’ll know what we mean). Tens

100 Port Douglas Magazine & Travel Planner