Measuring the success of conservation strategies to protect scleractinian corals on the Great Barrier Reef (A2.1.3S)

Task leader: Ms Elizabeth Dinsdale, CRC Reef and James Cook University.

Task associate: Dr Paul Marshall, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Auhtority.

Marine protected areas are not only a key conservation strategy, but contribute to local and national economic and social benefits through sustainable use of resources, tourism and recreation. Protected areas will reach their conservation, social and economic potential when effectively managed. Performance reporting is being developed to evaluate strategies implemented by management agencies. Results of the evaluations will inform communities of the strategies' success. Management implements strategies to achieve a range of ecological and social objectives. To evaluate a strategy performance indicators are required to assess the multiple objectives and consider the range of perspectives and values people hold for an area.

The first step is to know what to measure. In a coral reef environment there are many variables that could be measured to describe the condition of the reef after the implementation of a management strategy. Likewise, to analysise the social objectives of a strategy there are many variables that could be measured to show how a strategy changed the activities, experience and enjoyment of people who use the area. It is necessary to find variables that will be quick and easy to measure, do not cause any damage to the environment and reflect important values of the reef.

The focus for this case study is the Whitsunday Islands Reef Protection Program. There have been concerns over many years about the impacts of ship and boat anchors on the coral reefs fringing the Whitsunday Islands. The reef management agencies and local community groups implemented a management program in the mid-1990's that provides mooring to reduce the use of anchors in popular bays, and restricts anchoring to deeper areas away from the corals.

This study aims to identify the ecological and social variables which are most useful in determining whether the Reef Protection Program has met its objectives i.e. to reduce coral damage caused by boating while allowing for equitable use of spectacular fringing reefs. When suitable indicators have been developed, the effectiveness of the Program can be tested at a large number of sites.

Initial surveys have shown that some ecological variables that seem useful, such as the coral cover at each site, are not meaningful performance indicators. Coral cover is not a useful indicator to evaluate the Reef Protection Program, due to high levels of natural variation caused by other factors not the amount of anchoring which occurs at each site.

Twenty two different ecological variables were tested in the pilot study, and five of these showed trends that seem to be related to boat use. These will be further tested during the project. Techniques developed to identify performance indicator will be readily transferable, allowing for adoption of the evaluation procedures for other strategies within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and for other marine protected areas.