A key initiative of the Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan(Reef 2050 Plan)  (Australian Government, 2021) is the Reef 2050 Integrated Monitoring and Reporting Program (RIMReP), launched in 2014. The RIMReP is a partnership between key Australian Government environmental management and science agencies including Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (the Reef Authority), DCCEEW, AIMS, IMOS, CSIRO, Qld DES and Traditional Owners of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR or the Reef from here on). The objective of RIMReP is to provide Reef managers with information to guide decisions, track progress against the Reef 2050 Plan, drive better alignment between existing monitoring programs and fill gaps in monitoring and modelling knowledge. RIMReP critical monitoring priorities funded by the Reef Trust Partnership (Australian Government Reef Trust and GBRF) projects include biophysical monitoring projects and those focussed on improving knowledge of the human dimensions of the GBR. Excluding ongoing investment in the Social and Economic Long Term Monitoring Program (SELTMP), the Sustainable usE And Benefits fOR mariNE (SEABORNE) project is one of three human dimensions projects funded by RIMReP following a 2020 assessment of monitoring priorities and gaps (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, 2021).³  

The objective of the SEABORNE project is to improve understanding about who is using the reef, how the reef is being used and the benefits enjoyed from this use, focussing on existing data.   

Consolidation of a wide range of existing socio-economic datasets, and the use of such data to provide estimates of derived values and benefits from GBR ecosystem services can assist management decision-making and enable the evaluation of progress made towards the following Reef 2050 Plan objective: 

Reef benefits are sustained and maintained within the ecologically sustainable limits of the whole system as it changes for Reef dependent users and industries: recreational and tourism visitors; recreational and commercial fisheries; and research (uses).  

³ The other human dimensions projects are “Monitoring collective capacity and implementation” led by the Queensland University of Technology and “Integrated Reef Stewardship Monitoring” (PROTECT) led by the University of Queensland.