Standard Presentation Australian Marine Sciences Association Annual Meeting 2023

SEABORNE: a data system to manage conflicting uses, users, benefits and values in the Great Barrier Reef (#64)

Petina Pert 1 , Anthea Coggan 2 , Jeremy De Valck 3 4 , Cindy Huchery 5 , Victoria Graham 6 , Diane Jarvis 7 , Ella Schirru 2 8 9 , Maxine Newlands 10 , Mara Emmerling 2 8
  1. CSIRO, Townsville, Qld, Australia
  2. CSIRO, Dutton Park, QLD, Australia
  3. Centre for Regional Economies and Supply Chains, Central Queensland University , Brisbane, Qld, Australia
  4. Coastal Marine Ecosystems Research Centre, Central Queensland University, Gladstone, Qld, Australia
  5. GBRMPA, Science for Management Section , Townsville, Qld, Australia
  6. The Cairns Institute, James Cook University, Cairns, Qld, Australia
  7. College of Business, Law and Governance, James Cook University, Cairns, Qld, Australia
  8. James Cook University, Townsville, Qld, Australia
  9. Marine Parks Operations, GBRMPA, Townsville, Qld, Australia
  10. Political Science, School of Humanities and Social Science, College of Arts, Society and Education, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld, Australia

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is a complex coastal system consisting of interconnected habitats such as coral reefs, seagrass meadows and mangroves. These ecosystems provide numerous ecosystem services (ES) that benefit local and more distant communities in different ways. However, the finite supply of ES and the dynamic nature of interactions between their different beneficiaries creates increasing competition for users of the GBR, as well as the potential for suboptimal and inequitable resource allocation. In this paper, we describe the application of the principles of ecosystems and their flow of services, to develop a metadata database of existing information on users of the GBR, how the GBR is being used, and the benefits derived from such uses. We detail a hybrid framework for understanding value, based on the established frameworks of Total Economic Value and the United Nations’ System of Environmental Economic Accounting, and build on these with the inclusion of value using First Nations-centric frameworks. In our paper we showcase the major steps applied to building the metadata database and reflect on how First Nations information is being incorporated into the database as well as how First Nations future use of the database is being incorporated into its design.