Applying decision science to develop an integrated monitoring program for the Great Barrier Reef

The Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan is the most recent government initiative designed to guide adaptive management of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) over the next 35 years, and to ensure the protection of natural values... [ view full abstract ]

The Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan is the most recent government initiative designed to guide adaptive management of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) over the next 35 years, and to ensure the protection of natural values of this world heritage area. A key initiative of the plan is to develop an integrated monitoring and reporting program for the GBR. The aim of the integrated monitoring and reporting program is to evaluate whether environmental, social and economic objectives and targets of the plan are being achieved. This can be thought of as a regular ‘health check’ that will allow managers to understand the condition of the GBR’s values, the status of natural and anthropogenic impacts affecting these values, and evaluate the effectiveness of current management approaches.

Here, tools from decision science are introduced that can assist with the initial stages of developing an integrated monitoring program: indicator development and quantifying ecological condition. Indicator development will benefit from the use of conceptual models, objectives hierarchies and means-ends diagrams. Quantifying ecological condition can benefit from a variety of statistical and predictive modelling techniques, such as control charts and scenario planning. The decision science approach advocated here acknowledges that decision-making is not a value-free process. Thus, the tools used for indicator development and quantification of ecological condition can be used to incorporate scientific evidence and human values in this process. This work acknowledges and builds on the vast amount of monitoring and research conducted in the GBR, which when integrated into decision science tools can be applied to an integrated monitoring and reporting program for the GBR.