Tourism Reef Protection Initiative

Tourism operators play a key role in how we protect and manage the Great Barrier Reef. Their high frequency visitation to the Reef positions them to provide regular pulse checks of the health of the Reef and witness changes when they happen.

The Tourism Reef Protection Initiative empowers Reef Tourism operators to monitor and protect the sites that they visit. Operators are contracted to undertake reef protection services that ensure the preservation of the world heritage values now and into the future.

The Initiative builds on the highly successful Eye on the Reef monitoring program.

Tourism operators provide high quality data via the Eye on the Reef program which provides near real-time Reef health information for Reef management and reporting, incluing Reef Health Updates, Reef Snapshot and Outlook Report.

In 2022 $15.1 million was allocated under the Reef Protection Package, to engage 26 tourism operators through a competitive open tender assessment to deliver Reef protection and conservation services to 30 June 2024. The Initiative was extended until 30 June 2025 with a further $5 million provided with a focus on the implementation of Site Stewardship Plans by 25 operators.

Site Stewardship Plans follow a systematic and transparent science synthesis process that integrates the current best management practices, the best available data and expert local knowledge to develop action plans for specific sites.

During each reporting period, contracted tourism operators conduct high frequency Eye on the Reef surveys, poto point transects and crown-of-thorns starfish and Drupella snail control. Operators also complete identified actions unique to each Site Stewardship Plan such as facilitation of On-Country visits fro Traditional Owners, biodiversity indexes, assisted recovery and site-intervention actions.

Commonwealth of Australia Cruise Whitsundays TRP Hardy Reef - Reefworld pontoon - Cookie disc education - Liza Muller, Jemma Simpson, Melissa Broehl, Julia Farrell

© Commonwealth of Australia -Tourism Reef Protection Initiative GBR-Safaris-Measuring-the-distance

© Commonwealth of Australia - Reef Authority - Tourism Reef Protection Initiative - Quicksilver-Group-Coral-Nursery-Moore-Reef

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Results

The continuation of the Tourism Reef Protection Initiative has enabled the Site Stewardship Plans developed by operators to be used as guidance on the continuing delivery of Reef protection services and identified actions unique to each site.

Outcomes delivered during this period:
Tourism Weekly Surveys: 383
Reef Health and Impact Surveys: 701
Coral predator surveys: 505
Photo point surveys: 85
Crown-of-thorns starfish culled: 584
Drupella snails removed: 20,223
Coral fragments planted through assisted recovery actions: 5,355
Stewardship actions conducted: 164

Stewardship action highlights

Great Barrier Reef Safaris

Great Barrier Reef Safaris continue to work closely with First Nations People to implement their Site Stewardship Plan including facilitating multiple Sea Country visits by the Traditional Owners of Biagurra (Bedarra Island). Connecting Biagurra people with their Land and Sea Country provides an opportunity for the sharing of experiences, concerns and aspirations for their Country now and into the future.

Sunlover Reef Cruises

Sunlover Reef Cruises have undertaken over 280 Eye on the Reef monitoring surveys during the first reporting period, continuing to enhance their knowledge of the health of the Reef and around their stewardship site at Moore Reef. This unparalleled local knowledge also helps Reef managers and visitors learn about the diversity of marine life that frequent this part of the World Heritage Area.

Dive. Spear. Sport @ 1770

Dive Spear and Sport @ 1770 held a free community Reef day, educating locals in the region about citizen science, reef health and monitoring techniques including the use of the Eye on the Reef Sightings app. The community event submitted wildlife sightings to the Eye on the Reef system highlighting the diversity of the region. Frequent submissions of sightings help tell the stories of many charismatic species such as learning hen humpback whale migrations occur and when and where they are calving.

Collectively the services delivered have produced unprecedented results from the significant increase of in-water monitoring and implementation of site stewardship actions between the far north and southern sections of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

The results include monitoring data from 272 unique tourism sites located at 109 reefs, with over 19,500 Eye on the Reef - Reef Health surveys conducted.

Operators engaged in the Tourism Reef Protection Initiative provide critical reef health data throughout the summer including periods of increased disturbance.

During the Initiative, Site Stewardship Plans have been established incorporating actions that map, monitor, protect and build resilience at high-value tourism sites. These 26 identified tourism sites provide regular visitation, enabling high-frequency monitoring programs using Tourism Weekly surveys complemented with machine-learning assisted Photo Point enhancement surveys over set benthic transects.

Activities conducted during the reporting periods included reef health monitoring, coral predator control actions, development and delivery of interpretation material, delivery of ‘Be a Marine Biologist For a Day’ educational activities with schools, and providing opportunities to Traditional Owners for visitation to Sea Country.

Overall delivery results: November 2022 to June 2024
Total service delivery activity days: 3,240
Visits to Reef Protection Service sites: 5,353
Reef Health Surveys: 19,557
Photo Point transects: 926
Coral predator control days: 2,808
Crown-of-thorns starfish culled: 2,046
Drupella snails removed: 278,560
Supported On-Country visitation for 295 Traditional Owners across 152 days
115 school education excursions for 1,592 students
Total days of Be a Marine Biologist for a Day delivered: 115

The summer period provided some challenges for the 26 tourism operators who are engaged in the Tourism Reef Protection Initiative; with dedication these operators were able to continue service delivery throughout this time. Tropical Cyclones Jasper and Kirrily impacted reefs and communities throughout the Great Barrier Reef, with both direct and indirect impacts including subsequent widespread flooding. Additionally, the Reef Authority confirmed a mass coral bleaching event during this period due to the prolonged exposure to elevated sea temperatures.

Operators engaged in the Tourism Reef Protection Initiative have provided critical reef health data throughout this period of increased disturbance.

Despite the setbacks of these events almost 3,500 reef health surveys have been contributed to the Eye on the Reef system during this period. In addition, operators responded to the previous request by Reef Authority managers to increase Photo Point enhancement visual image monitoring with a 280% increase in these surveys over the summer period. The additional visual data provided by these photo surveys is aiding the Reef Authority in gaining a better understanding of how individual reefs respond to disturbance events and providing greater detail on the response of individual coral groups. To have this unique capacity to contribute ‘real time’ data is a valuable resource to the Reef Authority during a major event and contributes to the understanding of coral reef resilience.

Operators will continue to undertake site stewardship and reef protection services at high value tourism sites providing vital information to the Reef Authority.

Delivery period results: December 2023 to February 2024
Total service delivery activity days: 614
920 Reef Protection Service site visits
Reef Health Surveys: 3,490
Photo Point transects: 254
Coral predator control days: 493
Crown-of-thorns starfish culled: 232
Drupella snails removed: 49,778
On-Country visits: 26
Supported On-Country visitation for 240 Traditional Owners across 55 days
75 school education excursions for 1,025 students
Total days of Be a Marine Biologist for a Day delivered: 11

The 26 tourism operators who are engaged in the Tourism Reef Protection Initiative have steadily increased their capacity in the delivery of services during this reporting period. The wealth of reef health surveys both statistically and photographically is a valuable tool contributing to the monitoring, reporting and management of the Great Barrier Reef.

A further 12% increase in service delivery this period has resulted in 3,730 reef health monitoring surveys contributed to the Eye on the Reef system.

Tourism Operators were asked by the Reef Authority to increase the number of Photo Point enhancement transects to provide images submitted to ReefCloud to give a more detailed ‘snapshot in time’ of reef health prior to the coming summer season. Summer typically caries a higher chance of a disturbance event occurring, and Tourism Operators have responded with record submissions of data.

Alongside increased survey activity, operators have contributed a 63% increase in image transects uploaded to ReefCloud.

(ReefCloud is a program developed by the Australian Institute of Marine Science harnessing the power of human collaboration and artificial intelligence to monitor and improve reporting on reef health).

Delivery period results: September to November 2023
Total service delivery activity days: 547
Protection services conducted at 606 reef sites
Reef Health surveys: 3,730
Photo Point transects: 90
Coral predator control days: 520
Crown-of-thorns starfish culled: 358
Drupella snails removed: 50, 767
On-Country visits: 24
Total Traditional Owner visitors: 27
Total days of Be a Marine Biologist for a Day delivered: 18
Total participants of Be a Marine Biologist for a Day: 365

Service delivery for the Tourism Reef Protection Initiative has continued at a high level matching the previous reporting period.

The 26 tourism operators engaged through the Tourism Reef Protection Initiative have delivered a combined total of 576 on-water days of providing reef protection services to 606 high-value and ecologically significant sites and facilitated visitation to sea country for 27 Traditional Owners.

A further 7 per cent increase in service delivery has resulted in over 3,000 reef monitoring surveys submitted into the Eye on the Reef system.

In addition to delivering in-water services, tourism operators have also continued to develop educational content packages to deliver interpretive up-to-date information to visitors as well as educating school and university groups through targeted, curriculum-based programs.;

At the conclusion of the reporting period (end of August 2023), suppliers have conducted over 576 on-water days delivering reef protection and conservation services:
Total service delivery activity days: 576
Visits to a primary location: 152
Visits to secondary locations: 454
Total Reef Health Impact Surveys: 2,656
Total Tourism Weekly Surveys: 458
Photo point transects: 59
Coral predator control days: 517
Crown-of-thorns starfish culled: 604
Drupella snails removed: 42,587
Traditional Owner On-Country visits: 16
Total Traditional Owner visitors: 27
Total days of Be a Marine Biologist for a Day delivered: 19

After the first six months of service delivery, we have seen incredible results from the 26 tourism operations delivering reef protection services.

Nearly 5,000 reef health monitoring surveys were submitted to the Eye on the Reef program, over 500 Crown of Thorns Starfish were culled, and over 71,000 coral-eating Drupella snails were removed.

The mid-project snapshot report demonstrates that the Tourism Reef Protection Initiative delivers results for the Reef, providing conservation, monitoring, and protection at high-value tourism sites across the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

Special Envoy to the Great Barrier Reef, Senator Nita Green, was in Cairns to announce the Tourism Reef Protection Initiative mid-project snapshot report on Monday, 14 August 2023.

The Tourism Reef Protection Initiative aims to build capacity across the tourism industry, support and protect tourism sites, and increase in-water monitoring and site stewardship actions from the far north to the southern Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

Service delivery activity under the Tourism Reef Protection Initiative has increased by more than 25 per cent since the previous reporting period.

During May, more than 1000 reef health surveys were conducted. This is the largest contribution to the Eye on the Reef data management system in a single month.

This volume of data is providing reef managers with the most comprehensive near real-time Reef health dataset to inform management actions.

Tourism operators are fostering an even greater awareness and sense of stewardship of the areas of the Great Barrier Reef that they frequently visit.

Capacity building continued with another round of Eye on the Reef survey training.

The impact of these capacity-building exercises is apparent, with the total number of unique surveyors contributing survey data having a four-fold increase since the Initiative began.

At the conclusion of the reporting period (end of May 2023), suppliers have conducted over 538
on-water days delivering reef protection and conservation services:
Total service delivery activity days: 538
Visits to a primary location: 434
Visits to secondary locations: 459
Total Reef Health Impact Surveys: 2406
Total Tourism Weekly Surveys: 699
Photo point enhancement transects: 79
Coral predator control days: 452
Crown-of-thorns starfish culled: 332
Drupella snail controlled: 52,053
On Country visits: 29
Total Traditional Owner visitors: 54
Total days of Be a Marine Biologist for a Day delivered at a location: 13

This period focused on capacity building and project planning for each of the tourism operators engaged under the Tourism Reef Protection Initiative.

New surveyors between Cape Tribulation and Lady Elliot were trained in Eye on the Reef methodologies, and reef protection service areas were defined for each operator.

Each of the operators identified a primary site and at least one secondary site, along with detailed monitoring plans covering how and where services would take place on each site.

This process identified that 109 individual reefs are targeted by the Initiative, with 272 unique sites identified by the Reef Authority as high-value tourism sites.

Primary sites services include a range of stewardship activities:
Development of an in-depth site monitoring plan.
Regular visitation, including high-frequency monitoring systems utilizing Tourism Weekly surveys and machine-learning-assisted photo surveys.
Established Photo Point Enhancement Transects submitting images to be analysed with the ReefCloud AI program developed by the Australian Institute of Marine Science.
Substantial, ongoing coral predator surveys and control efforts were required.
Permitted assisted recovery and site intervention activities.

Secondary sites are assessed every 3 months to gain a regular snapshot of the current condition of a site and take immediate actions where required. Activities at these sites include:
Reef health assessment surveys utilizing Reef Health and Impacts Surveys
Targeted coral predator surveys and control efforts where required.

At the conclusion of the reporting period (end of February 2023), suppliers have conducted over 400
on-water days delivering reef protection and conservation services:
Total service delivery activity days: 404
Visits to a primary location: 327
Visits to secondary locations: 300
Total Reef Health Impact Surveys: 1309
Total Tourism Weekly Surveys: 491
Photo point enhancement transects: 64
Coral predator control days: 276
Crown-of-thorns starfish culled: 175
Drupella snail controlled: 19,736
On Country visits: 33
Total Traditional Owner visitors: 77
Total days of Be a Marine Biologist for a Day delivered at a location: 14

The Australian Government has launched its $15.1 million Tourism Reef Protection Initiative to support the marine tourism industry along the Great Barrier Reef as it continues to grapple with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The initiative, funded by the Government’s $1.2 billion Reef Protection package, enables marine tourism operators to provide important Reef protection and conservation services at high-value tourism sites across the Great Barrier Reef through June 2024.

It follows the highly successful $3.2 million Tourism Industry Activation and Reef Protection Initiative delivered by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority in 2021 to support the sector at the height of domestic and international border closures.

Twenty-six tourism operators along the Reef have been selected through a competitive tender process to participate in the initiative.

The selection process required operators to demonstrate their capability in delivering:
reef health and impact monitoring,
on-country visits for Traditional Owners,
crown-of-thorns starfish control,
Drupella snail removal,
Reef education resources,
site intervention activities such as ‘coral gardening’ and
connecting visitors to the values of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

More than 50 new surveyors were trained in various Eye on the Reef programs before the initiative.

As the official monitoring system of the Great Barrier Reef, the data gathered through these surveys plays a vital role in informing the management of the Marine Park.

The stewardship provided by the successful operators will enhance the scope of monitoring, control, and preservation of key tourism sites across the Reef as the impacts of COVID-19 begin to ease.

The initiative will deliver services at up to 100 strategically selected reefs from the far north to the southernmost locations across the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

The launch of the initiative was publicly announced by Special Envoy to the Great Barrier Reef, Senator Nita Green, alongside the Reef Authority and tourism industry representatives.