Land-based pollution is accepted by the scientific, government and some industry sectors as a threat to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), yet this level of acceptance is not uniformly reflected in GBR communities. Following the ‘Show me, don’t tell me’ approach requested by landholders, local-scale water quality monitoring is implemented at paddock and sub-catchment scales to build understanding of the water quality science, and facilitate practice change.
Local-scale monitoring programs are co-designed with landholders and industry partners, thereby optimising relevance and engagement. Findings are shared with small, well-established landholder groups, facilitating frank conversations about water quality and land management practices. Feedback mechanisms allow for monitoring programs to be adapted to meet the community’s needs.
After eight years of sustained effort in the Johnstone, Tully and Murray river basins, across interconnected initiatives, it is timely to reflect on what this investment has achieved and to explore the specific program features that have contributed to outcomes. Retroactive analysis of Monitoring and Evaluation data has been augmented with interviews and mapped to a Theory of Change framework. The outcomes of the evaluation will be presented, demonstrating that the insights generated can be used to inform future marine policy and management.