Snapchat and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation (GBRF) unveiled a new augmented reality tool that immerses the viewer in the Great Barrier Reef and allows them to plant a coral — both virtually, and in real life!
Share Your Pledge To Protect The Reef
During Summer, snapchat users could “dive” into the Reef to help Snapchat and the GBRF plant one million corals! This new augmented reality tool — launched by the duo in early December 2021 — was designed to motivate Snapchat’s large Gen Z user base to protect the Great Barrier Reef.
When a user opens Snapchat, uses the “Water Segmentation Lens”, and points their phone at a body of water — they’ll see a virtual reconstruction of the Reef on their screen. Pretty cool, right? What’s not so cool is that the virtual reconstruction shows the future of the Reef due to climate change.
It was also announced that every time a user “swipes up” on Snapchat’s featured post about the Reef, the GBRF will plant one heat-tolerant coral on the Great Barrier Reef!
“Swipe Up” To Plant A Coral!
This partnership is about raising awareness amongst young people about the threats that the Great Barrier Reef faces. This “global call-to-action” means that you, as a Snapchat user, can plant a coral in the Great Barrier Reef with a single swipe!
“We know young Australians care passionately about combating climate change and will also experience its worst impacts in the future if we fail to act now,” said Snapchat General Manager for Asia-Pacific, Kathryn Carter.
Thanks to the GBRF, Snapchat users are able to make a tangible difference and help to restore the health of the Reef — both in reality and virtually. Their goal was to plant one million heat-resistant corals over the summer as part of the ‘Coral IVF’ project!
Snapchat Has 306 Million Users Globally
If you didn’t know it already, Snapchat is one of the most popular social media apps in the world! With 306 million global users — the majority falling into the Gen Z age category (13-24) — this environmental campaign aims to target young people in Australia and abroad.
“As a platform that reaches over 90% of young Australians aged 13-24, we feel a deep responsibility to take action at the pace and scale that is needed to combat the worst impacts of climate change," said Kathryn Carter.
Potentially reaching nearly 306 million people with this important message is huge! Snapchat is actively helping the GBRF to target a new demographic in a fun, interactive, and educational way.
What Is The Coral IVF Project?
The GBRF’s collaboration with Snapchat is all part of its Coral IVF project, which aims to re-establish coral populations on the GBR. This exciting project combines coral eggs and sperm to create millions of baby corals which grow in safe enclosures on the Reef. Once the baby corals are mature enough, they’re transplanted to damaged parts of the Reef to grow and breed.
“Climate change is the greatest threat to our Reef and this is the critical decade in which to act with urgency,” said Anna Marsden, the GBRF’s Managing Director.
“However, emissions reduction alone is no longer enough to guarantee the survival of the Reef, so we’re working to help the Reef resist, adapt to and recover from the warmer temperatures that have already been caused by climate change,” she said.
We love that this fun, interactive and educational tool is targeting Gen Z kids, teens and young adults all around the world! The collaboration between Snapchat and the GBRF is helping to raise awareness of the impacts of climate change and re-establish damaged parts of the Great Barrier Reef. We can't wait to share the results with you!
If you’d like to learn more about the Coral IVF project, head over to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation website for more information.
For more interesting stories like this, check out our Eco News category and the blogs below.
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