Keeping the ‘Great’ in the Great Barrier Reef: large-scale governance of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
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 princip...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Utrecht University Library Open Access Journals (Publishing Services)
2014-08-01
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| Series: | International Journal of the Commons |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.thecommonsjournal.org/articles/405 |
| _version_ | 1819011262643699712 |
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| author | Louisa S. Evans Natalie C. Ban Michael Schoon Mateja Nenadovic |
| author_facet | Louisa S. Evans Natalie C. Ban Michael Schoon Mateja Nenadovic |
| author_sort | Louisa S. Evans |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T01:25:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8ec0005d24c442d88f07cdc197c5b8ff |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1875-0281 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T01:25:22Z |
| publishDate | 2014-08-01 |
| publisher | Utrecht University Library Open Access Journals (Publishing Services) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of the Commons |
| spelling | doaj.art-8ec0005d24c442d88f07cdc197c5b8ff2022-12-21T19:20:31ZengUtrecht University Library Open Access Journals (Publishing Services)International Journal of the Commons1875-02812014-08-018239642710.18352/ijc.405232Keeping the ‘Great’ in the Great Barrier Reef: large-scale governance of the Great Barrier Reef Marine ParkLouisa S. Evans0Natalie C. Ban1Michael Schoon2Mateja Nenadovic3Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook UniversitySchool of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria, Canada; Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook UniversitySchool of Sustainability, Arizona State UniversityNicholas School of the Environment, Duke UniversityAs 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 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.https://www.thecommonsjournal.org/articles/405coral reefsfisheriesgreat barrier reeflarge-scalemarinesocial-ecological system |
| spellingShingle | Louisa S. Evans Natalie C. Ban Michael Schoon Mateja Nenadovic Keeping the ‘Great’ in the Great Barrier Reef: large-scale governance of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park International Journal of the Commons coral reefs fisheries great barrier reef large-scale marine social-ecological system |
| title | Keeping the ‘Great’ in the Great Barrier Reef: large-scale governance of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park |
| title_full | Keeping the ‘Great’ in the Great Barrier Reef: large-scale governance of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park |
| title_fullStr | Keeping the ‘Great’ in the Great Barrier Reef: large-scale governance of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park |
| title_full_unstemmed | Keeping the ‘Great’ in the Great Barrier Reef: large-scale governance of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park |
| title_short | Keeping the ‘Great’ in the Great Barrier Reef: large-scale governance of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park |
| title_sort | keeping the great in the great barrier reef large scale governance of the great barrier reef marine park |
| topic | coral reefs fisheries great barrier reef large-scale marine social-ecological system |
| url | https://www.thecommonsjournal.org/articles/405 |
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