Hedge P, Molloy F, Sweatman H, Dambacher J, Chandler J, Gooch M, Chin A, Bax NJ and Walshe T (2013). Integrated monitoring framework for the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. Department of the Environment, Canberra.
Overview
This project was commissioned to establish a framework for a standardised and integrated ecological, social and economic monitoring program. In undertaking this project, the team developed and tested practical guidance that would help partners involved in a strategic assessment under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) to establish a framework for integrated monitoring. The Integrated Monitoring Framework (IMF) guidance identifies the steps and provides clear direction to develop efficient and effective monitoring and reporting on the condition of nationally protected matters – Matters of National Environmental Significance (MNES) – and support adaptive management of these assets. The guidance was applied to the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA) with the intention that the approach could be used to inform the potential development of other integrated monitoring programs in other coastal and marine regions of Australia.