Transcript Jon Day - World Heritage Indicators

INDICATORS
... their application for marine
protected area management
World Heritage
Workshop
Paris, Jan 2007
Jon Day
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
INDICATORS
Definition - A measure (quantitative or qualitative) of
how close we are to achieving what we set out to
achieve (ie our objective)
Context
Planning
Input
Process
Output
Outcomes
Many examples of effectiveness indicators eg. IOC (2006); WWF
• Ecological indicators
• Social–economic indicators
• Governance performance indicators
Indicators in Great Barrier Reef
Marine Park
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Often asked: “Is the GBR healthy?” or
“How do you know?”
So, what can indicators do?
• Summarise environmental trends &
integrate environmental information for
management.
• Provide environmental information to
resource managers, users, community
and/or the decision-makers.
How does GBRMPA use
indicators?
•
•
GBRMPA has statutory responsibility for
managing the GBR Marine Park.
We report on its status through
•
•
•
•
Annual Reports to Parliament - statutory
State of the Reef Report (ongoing, web-based)
WH Periodic Reports (6 yearly)
Recent review of GBRMP Act recommended
statutory obligation to report periodically on
the health/ state of the GBR Marine Park.
•
Outlook report (5 yearly) – soon to be statutory
Key Performance Indicators
Clear links
to Authority’s
& Portfolio
Budget
Goal: To provide
for protection,
wiseGoal
use and
enjoyment
of the GBR in
Statement of the GBR Marine Park.
perpetuity through care and development
Monitoring specific
management initiatives
Issue
Management Natural Science
Initiative
monitoring
Social & Economic
Sciences monitoring
Biodiversity
Zoning Plan
•
LTMP - mid & outer-shelf
reefs (AIMS)
•Inshore reefs (JCU)
•Shoal areas (AIMS)
•Spill-over (JCU)
•CapReef (community
monitoring)
•
Water
Quality
Reef Water
Quality
Protection
Plan
•
Marine water quality
monitoring
•River mouth
•Biota
•Chlorophyll
•Inshore reefs
•
National recreational &
indigenous fishing
survey
•Environmental
management charge data
•Productivity commission
Local Gov data
•Regional social &
economic profiling
•Productivity
Commission
Monitoring specific
management initiatives
Issue
Managemen Natural Science
t Initiative
monitoring
Social & Economic
Sciences monitoring
Climate
change
Climate
Change
action plan
Vulnerability
assessments
•
Bleach watch
•Eye on the Reef
•GBR fine scale coral
bleaching surveys
•SST monitoring
•SOI monitoring
•AIMS LTMP
•
Fishing
pressure
Fisheries
management
plans
Zoning
•
QDPI&F data
•CRC Reef
•LTMP
•Zoning monitoring
•
Productivity Commission
•Regional social and
economic profiling
Local Gov data
•Regional social &
economic profiling
•National recreational &
indigenous fishing
survey
•Productivity Commission
Monitoring specific
management initiatives
Issue
Managemen Natural Science
t Initiative
monitoring
Social & Economic
Sciences monitoring
Threatened
species
Protection
areas
Protected
species
•
Dugong aerial surveys
•Turtle nesting surveys
•
Tourism
Permitting
COTS control
program
•
COTS monitoring
•Eye on the Reef
•
Productivity commission
•National recreational &
indigenous fishing
survey
•Environmental
management charge data
National & international
visitor surveys
•Productivity commission
•Environmental
management charge data
Monitoring & adaptive
management
Monitoring
Indicator
Management decision
Dugong recognised as a special
value of the GBRWHA with worldwide declining populations
Monitoring of dugong
populations in the Marine
Park
Management
Actions eg DPAs
Concern re. apparent decline
following 3 surveys (1986,,
1992, 1994)
INDICATOR – No. dugong
Monitoring in the GBR
• Huge variety of monitoring
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long-term (site specific & regional scales);
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reactive/ impact assessment (generally site-specific);
•
compliance (issue-specific)
• Some 50+ monitoring projects currently
underway (biophysical, biological, social)
•
Formal monitoring programs
•
Day-to-day management monitoring
•
Volunteer monitoring eg.
• Seagrass Watch
• ‘Eye on the Reef ‘
• CAP Reef
•
Other external monitoring programs
What does an indicator need
to be?
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•
•
•
•
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Representative?: is it representative of the GBR
as a whole or an issue?
Responsive?: will it change according to change
in the health of the GBR?
Scientific merit?: can it be measured accurately
and relatively simply?
Meaningful?: espec to managers & community.
Threshold?: is there a level at which concern will
be raised in time to take action?
Ecologically, socially & economically relevant
Indicators – lessons learnt
• Clear policy objectives tend to generate good indicators (ie the
objective ‘steers’ the indicator)
• Not practical to develop indicators for every objective
• Strong links between policy and indicator provide a sound basis
for monitoring, evaluation and communication.
• Think about complementing indicators or measurable aspects for
area outside MPA (ie. to assess the broader context and
understand whether management actions inside MPA are
working).
• Challenge is to develop performance indicators that are robust to
the many sources of uncertainty inherent in managing natural
systems – specific, measurable, consistent, sensitive to changes
being measured, cost effective
Indicators – lessons learnt
(cont)
• Problems of targets, particularly if using simplistic formulae:
• spatial targets (what happens in the remaining areas?)
• Many monitoring programs ‘do the thing right’ (ie precise local
measurements) rather than ‘doing the right thing’!
• Need to monitor wisely …. at ecologically- and socially-relevant
temporal and spatial scales
Hugely complex system
• Multi-link processes; which part(s) are pressures acting on?
• Be aware of cumulative impacts.
•
Indicators - lessons learned
“Shifting baselines”
“Each generation accepts the species
composition and stock sizes that they first
observe as a natural baseline from which to
evaluate changes. This ignores the fact that
this baseline may already represent a
disturbed state. The resource then continues
to decline, but the next generation resets their
baseline to this newly depressed state. The
result is a gradual accommodation of the
creeping disappearance of resource species,
and inappropriate reference points ... or for
identifying targets …..”
Pauly 1995
Dugong in the GBR
Aerial surveys since mid 1980’s:
•
Recent increase represents
small fluctuation in a
population that is far fewer
than existed in the 1960s
60000
50000
40000
30000
South of Cooktown, GBR
dugong population “…is a
fraction of what it was
decades ago”
20000
10000
0
19
60
19
70
19
80
19
87
19
92
19
94
19
99
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Indicators – lessons
learnt (cont)
• Indicators must reflect changes at spatial and temporal scales of
relevance to management and what needs to be measured
• Need differing indicators for site level and system level
• Think of your audience when developing indicator
• ‘Traffic light’ approach for simple depiction
• Ecological goals, socio-economic and governance goals are not
mutually exclusive; but they do need different evaluation
criteria/indicators.
THANK YOU
For more information about GBRMPA’s activities:
www.gbrmpa.gov.au