Eye on the Reef Program Partners

The Eye on the Reef Program involves three partners who each make specific contributions and share a range of benefits from involvement in the Program:

The Great Barrier Reef Tourism Industry
Many tourism operators employ knowledgeable marine biologists and dive staff that frequently visit the same reef sites throughout the year. This on-board expertise and frequent visitation provides an opportunity to collect weekly or even daily information about the site throughout the entire year. This helps to provide advanced warning of major impacts, unusual environmental phenomena or management issues to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. The data collected can also be used by the Research Partners to provide background information for scientific research programs, or to generate new questions or hypotheses. Additionally, the Reef Tourism industry is responsible for presenting the Great Barrier Reef to over a million visitors every year. This provides an opportunity to educate the public about the Great Barrier Reef and the issues affecting it.

Thirty six tourism operators in the Marine Park are currently involved in the program.

Current tourism industry partners include:

Port Douglas operators:

Cairns operators:

Whitsundays operators:

Roles of the tourism industry:

At the end of every day spent at the nominated site, deck staff are responsible for recording their observations on an Eye on the Reef logsheet.
Staff are expected to attend a two to three hour training workshop held every three months in their local area.
Where possible, staff should integrate Eye on the Reef information and training into their daily operations. For example, setting an example by following the Responsible Reef Practices, incorporating Eye on the Reef information into interpretative activities for reef visitors.
Tourism operators provide in-kind support for training and involvement of deck staff in the Program.

Benefits for the tourism industry:

Tourism staff are regularly updated with the latest scientific information about the Great Barrier Reef, and have the opportunity to ask questions and discuss issues with scientists and reef managers face to face.
Tourism staff have opportunities to enhance their knowledge and training by attending training workshops and on-board training sessions. Staff are also given the opportunity to meet staff from other boats.
Toruism staff and their companies are provided with site reports and information sheets that can be used for staff training, further education and interpretation to reef visitors.
Tourism companies are recognised for their contributions. Involvement in the Eye on the Reef Program has helped some companies gain Eco Certification and be recognised as High Standard Operations. These operators are eligible to apply fifteen-year tourism permits from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) is the Australian Government agency that is responsible for the protection, understanding, wise-use and enjoyment of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (the Marine Park). As the Eye on the Reef Program involves both environmental monitoring and industry partnerships, the GBRMPA’s involvement includes staff from the Tourism and Recreation Group and the Research and Monitoring Coordination Unit and the Regional Engagement Offices.

Roles of the GBRMPA:

Coordinating and funding the Program, strategic planning.
Collating, managing and analysing the data collected in weekly logsheets.
Developing site-specific reports called “Nature Diaries’ that present the data recorded in the weekly logsheets.
Coordinating training and development opportunities such as workshops and on-board training sessions.
Facilitating information exchange between all program partners.

Benefits for Marine Park managers:

Cost effective collection of ‘trend and trigger’ information at regular intervals across a large number of sites. This information can provide early warning of environmental disturbances or impacts.
Helping to ensure that reef visitors are provided with accurate and up-to-date information about the Great Barrier Reef.
Helping to develop stewardship of the Reef by tourism staff.
Training and educating staff about minimising their operational impacts through Responsible Reef Practices.
Facilitating industry involvement in other programs such as monitoring coral bleaching (BleachWatch), and assisting with compliance and enforcement in the Marine Park through incident reporting.

The Reef research community
The Great Barrier Reef region is a focal point for marine research with an international reputation for excellence. Organisations such as the CRC Reef Research Centre, James Cook University and the Australian Institute of Marine Science conduct world-leading research on a wide range of topics. This research is vital to improving our understanding of the Great Barrier Reef ecosystems, and of the interactions between people and the Reef. In turn, this understanding is used to inform decisions made about the preservation and wise use of the Marine Park.

Marine research is expensive and it is impossible for researchers to be ‘in the field’ all of the time. However, the Eye on the Reef Program records the observations of staff who are in the field for most of the time, and this information is available to Research Partners who are involved in the program.

Roles of reef researchers:

Providing up to date information on their area of expertise to industry staff.
Participation in training workshops and training days.
Reviewing information products such as fact sheets developed for industry staff.

Benefits for Marine Park managers:

Access to the Eye on the Reef data.
Notification of any phenomena or environmental triggers nominated by the researcher.
The opportunity to disseminate research results to industry staff who can present this information to reef visitors.
Opportunities to develop links with tourism operations that may be able to provide in-kind support to research programs.