Spatial allocation of Great Barrier Reef use, phase 2 (2.1.6/2)

Task leader: Ms Barbara Breen, CRC Reef and James Cook University.

Task Associate: NA

Over the past fifty years there has been a myriad of research programs that have been gathering new knowledge about coral reefs. However, little of this scientific information is being used in management agency decision-making processes because it does not reach reef managers in the right format, or at the right time. This project is investigating how large amounts of existing bio-physical data on the Reef can be combined with information that describes why different people prefer certain reef characteristics, such as coral cover, water clarity, fish diversity or distance from a port. These social and physical characteristics are then being integrated and used to better manage reef resources. To assist planners and policy-makers in this process, the data analysis for this project has been mapped into a Geographic Information System to provide a visual representation showing the relative importance of different bio-physical and social factors at many reefs in the Cairns section of the Marine Park. The major outcome of this project is to allow reef managers a better understanding of reef use and therefore direct their efforts to those areas most in need.