MTSRF Synthesis Report
Compiled by Jane Waterhouse and Michelle Devlin
C2O Consultants, Townsville
ISBN 978-1-921359-70-5
Published July 2011
MTSRF Theme 5 -
Enhancing Delivery
Extract from Section 1, Background
High quality water is vital to the ongoing health of the Great
Barrier Reef (GBR) and the adjacent catchments, including the Wet
Tropics rainforests. It is also essential for the communities,
industries and ecosystems that rely on the sustained health of
these natural ecosystems. Management of water quality impacts on
GBR marine and catchment ecosystems involves a complex system of
biophysical and socio-economic elements and relies on robust
understanding of interactions and responses in the system.
Many of the challenges facing managers of GBR catchments and
marine ecosystems require improved knowledge of the biophysical and
socio-economic nature of the system, cause and effect relationships
and ecosystem responses to pressures and optimal techniques for
performance assessment. There is a clear need for ongoing research
if management approaches are to continue improving.
Over the past four years, major government funded initiatives
have been put in place to restore, rehabilitate and protect
catchment habitat through the adoption of best management practices
and prioritisation of catchment activities that would reduce
sediment, nutrient and pesticide runoff (DPC, 2009). These efforts
have been informed by the outcomes of research supported by the
MTSRF, in conjunction with other collaborative research programs
such as the CSIRO Water for a Healthy Country GBR Program, the
Australian Government's Coastal Catchments Initiative, the Reef
Water Quality Partnership and various Queensland Government
research programs. This report summarises the highlights of this
MTSRF-funded research.
