Innovative local response to cyclone damaged reef leads to rapid tourism recovery

Smith, Adam K.; Cook, Nathan; Grundy, Allen; Lück, Michael; Pert, Petina L.; Picken, Felicity; Stacey, Joanne

doi:10.1080/14724049.2022.2027952

Cited by 5 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 41 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The deployment of underwater sculptures is a new, novel way of providing a restorative response to vulnerable or damaged marine ecosystems and maintaining or enhancing marine tourism experiences; however, there may also be detractors during community consultation [8]. The Coral Greenhouse appears to be the most extensively monitored artificial reef facility in Australia with engineering, ecological, social, aesthetics, and debris monitoring by scientists on an annual basis over the past five years and ongoing, as well as ecological monitoring by citizen scientists.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Visitor experience surveys indicated high satisfaction and did not differ significantly pre-and post-planting of corals. The score of 8.7 out of 10 was higher than scores of 4.3-8.5 for tourists in the Whitsundays [8]. Other studies also quantify the high satisfaction of divers with artificial reef experiences [42].…”

Section: Social Survey Of Touristsmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Whilst urgent climate change action on a grand scale is crucial, artificial reefs are increasing in popularity as a conservation tool used to compensate for degraded natural reef ecosystems, with increased fish production and attraction being common biological management goals [5,6]. Artificial reefs are also implemented to mitigate habitat damage or loss, and can help with the recolonisation of corals [7,8]. Furthermore, these structures are deployed for various social reasons, often to meet the demands of key stakeholders, such as tourists, fishers, and SCUBA divers in the region [8,9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Artificial reefs are also implemented to mitigate habitat damage or loss, and can help with the recolonisation of corals [7,8]. Furthermore, these structures are deployed for various social reasons, often to meet the demands of key stakeholders, such as tourists, fishers, and SCUBA divers in the region [8,9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Planting corals on underwater sculptures is an innovative method of linking art, science, tourism, and conservation. Underwater art has been used as a tool to inspire, highlight environmental issues, and drive conservation efforts [8,14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Engineering, Ecological and Social Monitoring of the Largest Underwater Sculpture in the World at John Brewer Reef, Australia

Smith

Songcuan

Cook

et al. 2022

JMSE

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The largest underwater sculpture in the world, the ‘Coral Greenhouse’ by artist Jason deCaires Taylor, was commissioned by the Museum of Underwater Art and installed at John Brewer Reef, Australia, in December 2019. The planning process required certified engineering design drawings associated with design life, durability and suitability of materials, and baseline ecological surveys. Following approval, the operational phase required annual monitoring of substrate, ecology, social values, and marine debris. We geo-referenced three permanent transects and designed a before/after rapid monitoring assessment of substrate, fish, and invertebrates. Substrate surveys indicated 11% concrete and 89% sand. Fish surveys indicated significant increases of diversity and abundance, with 12 species and 65 individuals recorded in 2018 compared to 46 species and 365 individuals recorded in 2022. Macroinvertebrate species maintained no significant trends in abundance, species richness, and diversity with respect to time between 2018 and 2022. We monitored coral restoration and natural recruitment at the site, measuring aesthetics, survivorship of planted corals, and coral recruitment. Of 131 corals transplanted in March 2020, survivorship was 100% at 1 month, 92% at 6 months, and 91.6% at 12 months. Hard and soft corals were recruited to the structure at a density of 8.35 hard corals/m2 and 10.9 soft corals/m2 over 26 months.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Social Survey Of Touristsmentioning

confidence: 95%