Celebrating 25 Years of Regional NRM
The 9th National Natural Resource Management Knowledge Conference, held September 8–12 in Cairns, marked a significant milestone, 25 years since Australia adopted the regional natural&...
Published August 7 in Restoration Ecology, this paper (as titled above) was authored by The Cairns Institute Director, Distinguished Professor Stewart Lockie and Dr Gillian Paxton who are current members of the Reef Restoration and Adaptation program (RRAP). The remaining authors; Dr Henry Bartelet, Linde Draaisma, and Dr Lokes Brooksbank supported the RRAP team.
This paper aimed to understand how people viewed the possible outcomes of coral restoration and adaptation efforts that could help the Great Barrier Reef recover from climate change, and how these views could inform the way such programs are planned and managed, both on the Reef and in other places.
What This Means in Practice
People interviewed said that for coral restoration to succeed, it needs clear goals, strong community involvement, and long-term support from governments. They also felt that involving the community in hands-on restoration work could inspire more climate action locally and beyond.
Poorly planned projects could harm Indigenous communities and ignore their rights. But when projects are built on genuine partnerships and respect for traditional knowledge, they can benefit both people and the environment.
The six key themes from this study—Indigenous Partnerships, Distributional Equity, Reef Outcomes, Community Engagement, Program Sustainability, and Unintended Consequencess—should be used to help shape project goals, measure success, and identify risks.
This paper is available on Open Access, click here.
November 2025