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Objectives for management of socio-ecological systems in the Great Barrier Reef region, Australia

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Abstract

A wide range of goals and objectives have to be taken into account in natural resources management. Defining these objectives in operational terms, including dimensions such as sustainability, productivity, and equity, is by no means easy, especially if they must capture the diversity of community and stakeholder values. This is especially true in the coastal zone where land activities affect regional marine ecosystems. In this study, the aim was firstly to identify and hierarchically organise the goals and objectives for coastal systems, as defined by local stakeholders. Two case study areas are used within the Great Barrier Reef region being Mackay and Bowen–Burdekin. Secondly, the aim was to identify similarities between the case study results and thus develop a generic set of goals to be used as a starting point in other coastal communities. Results show that overarching high-level goals have nested sub-goals that contain a set of more detailed regional objectives. The similarities in high-level environmental, governance, and socio-economic goals suggest that regionally specific objectives can be developed based on a generic set of goals. The prominence of governance objectives reflects local stakeholder perceptions that current coastal zone management is not achieving the outcomes they feel important and that there is a need for increased community engagement and co-management. More importantly, it raises the question of how to make issues relevant for the local community and entice participation in the local management of public resources to achieve sustainable environmental, social, and economic management outcomes.

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Notes

  1. The development of the hierarchical format is necessary if the aim is to later prioritise and weight these objectives (Pascoe et al. 2013) Prioritised objectives generated using the hierarchical objectives tree can be used by local management groups and authorities to better target their management actions.

  2. Note that the numbering and ordering of the objectives in Tables 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 does not in any way reflect their relative importance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, GPO Box 1538, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia

    Ingrid Elizabeth Van Putten & Ricardo Pascual

  2. Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, 7000, Australia

    Ingrid Elizabeth Van Putten

  3. CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, Ecosciences Precinct, 41 Boggo Road, Dutton Park, QLD, 4102, Australia

    Catherine Mary Dichmont, Leo Ximenes Cabral Dutra, Olivier Thébaud & Roy Aijun Deng

  4. IFREMER, Centre Bretagne, ZI de la Pointe du Diable, 10070, 29280, Plouzané, France

    Olivier Thébaud

  5. Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Primary Industries Building, 80 Ann St, Brisbane, QLD, 4001, Australia

    Eddie Jebreen

  6. Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, 2-68 Flinders Street, PO Box 1379, Townsville, QLD, 4810, Australia

    Randall Owens & Mark Read

  7. Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, 43 River Street, Mackay, QLD, 4740, Australia

    Carolyn Thompson

Authors
  1. Ingrid Elizabeth Van Putten
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  2. Catherine Mary Dichmont
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  3. Leo Ximenes Cabral Dutra
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  4. Olivier Thébaud
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  6. Eddie Jebreen
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  7. Randall Owens
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  8. Ricardo Pascual
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  9. Mark Read
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  10. Carolyn Thompson
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Correspondence to Ingrid Elizabeth Van Putten.

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Editor: Jamie Pittock.

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Van Putten, I.E., Dichmont, C.M., Dutra, L.X.C. et al. Objectives for management of socio-ecological systems in the Great Barrier Reef region, Australia. Reg Environ Change 16, 1417–1431 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-015-0867-1

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