The Great Barrier Reef has faced a combination of pressures, including mass coral bleaching events, an ongoing outbreak of predatory crown-of-thorns starfish, and severe tropical
cyclones. The challenges facing the health of the Reef is unprecedented in our lifetime. It has focused and galvanised collective effort to better understand the Reef and in doing so strengthen resilience-based management. It is clear - people need better and faster access to a multitude of information in order to make decisions and direct effort. Whether that be the tasking of compliance vessels in a marine park through to policy and planning.
The Reef 2050 Integrated Monitoring and Reporting Program is the key enabler of resilience-based management under the Reef 2050 Plan. Establishing an integrated monitoring
program across the Great Barrier Reef and its adjacent catchment – a vast area – is a major undertaking. It has required partners to navigate a wide range of complex and challenging
issues – many of which are still being assessed – including drawing together multiple environmental, social, cultural and economic monitoring and modelling information. This presentation will highlight the foundational program design to date, the multi-partner governance system and focus on the current development of technical systems and decision support tools through an online Reef Knowledge System.