Keeping the ‘Great’ in the Great Barrier Reef: large-scale governance of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

Abstract

Abstract:As part of an international collaboration to compare large-scale commons, we used the Social-Ecological Systems Meta-Analysis Database (SESMAD) to systematically map out attributes of and changes in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP) in Australia. We focus on eight design principles from common-pool resource (CPR) theory and other key social-ecological systems governance variables, and explore to what extent they help explain the social and ecological outcomes of park management through time. Our analysis showed that commercial fisheries management and the re-zoning of the GBRMP in 2004 led to improvements in ecological condition of the reef, particularly fisheries. These boundary and rights changes were supported by effective monitoring, sanctioning and conflict resolution. Moderate biophysical connectivity was also important Keeping the 'Great' in the Great Barrier Reef 397 for improved outcomes. However, our analysis also highlighted that continued challenges to improved ecological health in terms of coral cover and biodiversity can be explained by fuzzy boundaries between land and sea, and the significance of external drivers to even large-scale social-ecological systems (SES). While ecological and institutional fit in the marine SES was high, this was not the case when considering the coastal SES. Nested governance arrangements become even more important at this larger scale. To our knowledge, our paper provides the first analysis linking the re-zoning of the GBRMP to CPR and SES theory. We discuss important challenges to coding large-scale systems for meta-analysis.Keywords: Coral reefs, fisheries, Great Barrier Reef, large-scale, marine, socialecological system Acknowledgements: The authors would like to thank the SESMAD team for their support and collaboration, in particular Michael Cox. LE and NB acknowledge funding support from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. NB also thanks NSERC and SSHRC for financial support. Finally, we are grateful to those who reviewed our paper, including three anonymous reviewers. The arguments developed here are the sole responsibility of the authors.

The challenges and opportunities of transboundary cooperation through the lens of the East Carpathians Biosphere Reserve

“…The evidence pointing toward shifting states of the primeval beech forests as a result of human management (Vrška et al 2009, WWF 2016a, as well as evidence of climate change in the ECBR (Dittmar et al 2003), demonstrates that these ecosystems are inherently connected to anthropogenic activities and should thus be treated accordingly, rather than perceived as pristine or untouched. Similar development threats have been found to exist in other TBRs, such as the Bialowieza National Park and Biosphere Reserve between Belarus and Poland (Agrawal 2000), and for protected areas in general, as in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (Evans et al 2014).…”

“…The unique location and trilateral nature of this case study distinguishes it from other studies of large complex socialecological areas illustrated within the literature to date (Evans et al 2014, Fleischman et al 2014a, b, Villamayor-Tomas et al 2014. We ask whether the ECBR has served to improve human livelihoods while safeguarding its natural ecosystems.…”

Hydropower vs. fisheries conservation: a test of institutional design principles for common-pool resource management in the lower Mekong basin social-ecological system

“…Second, the study illustrates the usability of the SESMAD to assess the governance of an environmental commons when there are conflicts between different uses of it. Previous applications have used the database to model the conditions of a single environmental commons such as forestry (Fleischman et al 2014b), two similar commons such as the eastern and western Atlantic bluefin tuna (Epstein et al 2014b), two complementary commons such as fish and coral in the Great Barrier Reef (Evans et al 2014), and the externalities of a pollutant on a natural resource . To that list, we add the assessment of negative externalities that one resource use creates on another.…”

“…We aim to contribute to that body of literature by adopting a socialecological systems approach, characterized by an ultimate interest in understanding social-ecological outcomes and trade-offs, i.e., not just cooperation (Ostrom 2009, van Poorten et al 2011, Epstein et al 2013, Evans et al 2014, Fleischman et al 2014b). …”

Trust, confidence, and equity affect the legitimacy of natural resource governance

“…The GBRMP encompasses multiple resource users, including local residents, commercial fishers, tourism operators, and tourists (Marshall et al 2016). In this context, the current conceptualization of institutional design principles may have limited utility, given the large and heterogeneous group of resource users and the complex institutional regime with multiple layers and boundaries (Evans et al 2014). The GBRMP is primarily governed by a single statutory body, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA), and governance can be considered hierarchical (Day and Dobbs 2013).…”