The role the Great Barrier Reef plays in resident wellbeing and implications for its management

Abstract

Improvements in human wellbeing are dependent on improving ecosystems. Such considerations are particularly pertinent for regions of high ecological, but also social and cultural importance that are facing rapid change. One such region is the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Although the GBR has world heritage status for its 'outstanding universal value', little is known about resident perceptions of its values. We surveyed 1545 residents, finding that absence of visible rubbish; healthy reef fish, coral cover, and mangroves; and iconic marine species, are considered to be more important to quality of life than the jobs and incomes associated with industry (most respondents were dissatisfied with the benefits they received from industry). Highly educated females placed more importance on environmental non-use values than other respondents; less educated males and those employed in mining found non-market use-values relatively more important. Environmental non-use values emerged as the most important management priority for all.

Understanding local community attitudes toward industrial development in the Great Barrier Reef region World Heritage Area: are environmental impacts perceived to overshadow economic benefits?

“…Overall, the perceived impacts and risks of LNG development (in particular, dredging operations) to the marine environment within the Port of Gladstone were the most important drivers of local attitudes, explaining the largest proportion of variance in the regression model (Table ). This finding supports the conclusions of recent work by Larson et al (: 166), who found that coastal communities in the GBR “considered [the health of the marine environment] to be more important to quality of life than the jobs and incomes associated with industry”. The significance of this conclusion becomes clearer when we consider the emphasis that is placed on the economic benefits of gas development in public discourse (Schultz and Zelezny, ; Michaud et al , ; Devine‐Wright, ; Gross, ).…”

“…Stay‐at‐home parents (predominantly women) reported an array of views regarding the benefits of industry in Gladstone, and this may be linked to having partners or spouses in the LNG sector, an area that merits further attention. In general, however, these findings support the conclusions of recent work by Larson et al (), which demonstrated that longer‐term residents of the GBR region are generally dissatisfied with the benefits of industrial development.…”

The significance of environmental values for destination competitiveness and sustainable tourism strategy making: insights from Australia's Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area

“…Similar observations were made by Saltzer (2002) who found that experiencing the beauty of nature, being in a natural place, experiencing an undeveloped environment, water quality, fish, corals, and other marine life are important reasons for visiting the GBRWHA. In a parallel study of residents' perception of key GBRWHA-based values, Larson, Stoeckl, Farr, and Esparon (2014) found environmental factors to be most important to their overall quality of life relative to commercial activities, such as mining, agriculture, and fishing. Indeed, there is ample evidence that the environment has positive influences on well-being and quality of life (Kopmann & Rehdanz, 2013;Vemuri, 2004).…”

A new approach to the problem of overlapping values: A case study in Australia׳s Great Barrier Reef

“…Benefits which group together using PCA, with factor loadings in brackets; adapted from Larson et al (2014). this group 'primary plus', noting that this alternate grouping lends similar insights to those discussed in the main body of the paper.…”

“…Using PCA to identify separable groups Using Principal Components Analysis (PCA), our importance scores for the 18 benefits assessed in the questionnaire collapsed into 5 factors presented in Table C1. The benefits that load onto the first factor include all of those which grouped together using correlation coefficients, and also undeveloped beaches (see Larson et al (2014) for more detailed analysis). We have thus re-named…”