Reef Hub Round Up

The Reef Hub Round Up is our annual mini symposium to bring together the Reef Hub network to share their wok and find out about the latest updates from science in the region. We launched this annual event in 2023 and had over 70 people from across the Reef Hub network join us. Below is a summary of what we discussed.

Status and Trends for the Great Barrier Reef

Professor Morgan Pratchett from JCU opened the day with a summary of the latest research from the GBR. Morgan covered everything from long-term coral trends, to the impact of coral loss on fish, to Crown of Thorns outbreaks, to the outlook for the coming summer. This talk highlighted the challenges the Reef faces and the need for action on climate change, but also the role of local action

Reef stewardship from our region

We heard from local initiatives including the Forever Reef project, Reef Restoration Foundation, Coral Nurture Program and Passions of Paradise. It was great to hear the latest innovations and results that are being driven in our region. We followed this with a discussion around some of the common challenges these projects face and where the Reef Hub can play a role in bringing people together to discuss a joint solution.

Large scale initiatives and policy

In this session RRAP Deputy Director A/Prof Mia Hoogenboom, Industry development lead Dr Kevin Erickson and Engagement co-lead Dr Bruce Taylor provided updates on RRAP research and local on-ground activity. We discussed opportunities for the Hub network to be involved going forward and communications on updates.

We were also joined by Julia Chandler and Kim Wright, director and deputy director of Environmental Assessment and Protection at the Reef Authority. They talked about the permitting process and identified some key points to remember when putting in a permit application.

Thanks to all the presenters in this session for traveling up from Townsville to share with the network.

Caring for sea Country in our region

We heard updates from Yirrgandydji and Jabalbina ranger groups from Jai Singleton and Roger Thomas on their latest projects. Dr Vincent Backhaus and Tya Dynevor spoke about building Indigenous research capacity through supporting undergraduate research cadetships. Brian Singleton from the Reef Hub steering group shared the importance of connection and providing opportunities for Traditional Owner involvement.

Education and Industry engagement

Our last session had talks from Courtney Hansen from North Marine, Enrique Mosquera from Pacific Marine Group and Matt Radburnd from Newman College. These talks highlighted the links between industry and reef stewardship, and also the importance of bringing the younger generation into the Reef stewardship space.

Future of the Reef Hub and wrap up of the day

To finish the day Abbi shared some of the future plans for the Reef Hub and and the types of activities we have been including in our pitches for funding going forward. This was an opportunity for everyone to share their thoughts on projects, training and collaborations the Reef Hub can facilitate going forward. Thank you to everyone who provided their feedback and ideas.

Key takeaways

Morgan highlighted one of the key data gaps in terms of reef interventions is understanding coral settlement, this is something we are bringing the Reef Hub network together to address in our region through our recruitment study and we will continue to try and expand this study to be long term and covering more locations.
Collaboration is key to address the challenges the Reef faces, both in terms of implementing interventions but also in terms of working together on larger scale social science studies. Stay tuned for more on a paper coming out very shortly on this!
The adaptability and innovation of projects at a grassroots level was really highlighted through the work of organisations in the region, this ability to pivot is key to addressing challenges going forward.
Traditional Owners in our region are already leading and collaborating on projects to care for sea Country and there are more opportunities to connect TO groups and incorporate Traditional knowledge on projects.
Local expertise, skills and locally driven solutions are key for impact and scalability of reef interventions.