Legacy want Leonardo DiCaprio to join reef fight in Port Douglas
LEONARDO DICAPRIO
THE team behind Great Barrier Reef Legacy is on a mission to entice Hollywood superstar Leonardo DiCaprio to join their fight to preserve the reef.
The Port Douglas based charity, the brainchild of reef visionary John Rumney and marine biologist turned filmmaker Dean Miller, have made an audacious social-media play to get the A-List celebrity's attention following his speech at the Our Oceans conference in the USA.
Dicaprio, a climate advocate, used the forum to specifically call out the plight of the Great Barrier Reef and the need to protect it.
Dr Miller, the Director of Science and Media of GBR Legacy, has capitalised on the media attention and invited DiCaprio to visit Port Douglas for a personal tour of the reef.
It’s created world headlines, telling the UK’s The Guardian he wanted to tell ‘Leo’: “We would like to take you to the Great Barrier Reef and show you firsthand what we see, no political or media spin, just the facts from the scientists themselves to show you what is really happening here.”
Rumney, GBR Legacy’s Managing Director, also stated he wants DiCaprio to see ‘first hand’ the biggest single coral colony on the reef he calls ‘the monolith’.
“If Leonardo can see the current health of the Great Barrier Reef for himself, especially the largest and possibly the oldest coral colony here on the reef, he will be as shocked as we all are,” Rumney said.
DiCaprio’s outburst was a godsend for the GBR Legacy team, who promised they would capture the attention of the world’s media in an attempt to side step the bureaucratic barriers of government following the recent coral bleaching events on the reef.
They want to change the way the reef is protected by self-funding a state-of-the-art research vessel allowing free access for scientists, students and media.
The have launched a Facebook campaign to get DiCaprio to contact them using the hashtag #LeoJoinLegacy
“Lets test out the 6 degrees of separation,” The GBR Legacy Facebook page says.
“By the power of Facebook - we want Leonardo DiCaprio to contact Great Barrier Reef Legacy! Someone, somewhere must know how to get in touch with him - Repost this wanted add, ask your grandmother, knock on doors, drunk dial your ex - what ever it takes - #LeoJoinLegacy.”
The GBR Legacy team's invitation has also seen Queensland Government support the campaign while Aroona Luxury Charters is prepared to fund DiCaprio’s trip.
