"Save the Barrier Reef" was the first bumper sticker used in Australia, and unfortunately, as this series so poignantly reminds us, it remains a necessary sentiment today...

The remarkably diverse natural wonder that is the Great Barrier Reef, is the focus of new three-part TV series Life on the Reef, which aired on Sunday night.

Reviewer Graeme Blundell said it comes from the same team behind the 2013 award-winning documentary series Kakadu, the four-parter following the heavily armed rangers who patrol the flood plains and ancient sculptured escarpments of Australia's largest terrestrial park.

Life on the Reef, according to Blundell, is narrated "with just the right kind of weathered-voiced Queensland insouciance by actor Rupert Reid" and has the same understated, but deeply held, politics at its heart like Kakadu.

Since being listed as World Heritage in 1981 for its 'outstanding universal value' an estimated half of the reef's coral mass has already been lost. This is a devastating loss for all Australians, and indeed the world.

And yet, the reef is still under attack, now from increased threats of climate change and approvals of projects such as the Carmichael coalmine.

WE STILL HAVE TIME TO SAVE THE BARRIER REEF BUT TIMING IS CRITICAL. ADD YOUR NAME TO OUR OPEN LETTER HERE.

From the Australian:

Life on the Reef focuses on the aesthetic beauty of the subject but also significantly on the people who call it home.

There's an Aboriginal family that has lived off the sea for generations; an enthusiastic diving instructor and naturalist from Ireland; a critical flight paramedic for Queensland Ambulance Service; and a team of scientists desperately trying to protect the nesting ground of the endangered green sea turtle. These people are described by our soothing narrator as those seeking the "crucial balance between economic and ecological", though the series is not afraid to get a little bit more political.

We hope this last part is true, and that the series will do justice to just how endangered the Reef really is.

So endangered in fact, that in June this year, the UNESCO World Heritage committee will meet in Bonn, Germany to decide if our precious Great Barrier Reef should be put on the 'World Heritage in Danger' list.

1 Million Women has been campaigning to the World Heritage Committee, urging them to act without hesitation and officially declare the Reef in Danger when they meet in June. This formal listing will expose the reckless development around the Reef and put immense pressure on our government to ensure its protection for generations to come.

Blundell said the series may well boost the number of visitors to the reef every year, those wanting to see its wonders for themselves, but we hope it also builds a stronger community of people fighting for its preservation too.

You can watch the first episode of Life on the Reef on ABC iview here.

[divider]

HELP SAVE THE REEF! WHAT YOU CAN...

Add your name to our open letter to the World Heritage Committee asking them to Declare the Reef in Danger. Our goal is to reach 100,000 signatories by June 2015 when they meet. We already have 35,000!

ADD YOUR NAME TO OUR OPEN LETTER HERE.