GBR Reef Restoration Symposium 16-19 July, Cairns
The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) has suffered greatly from major disturbances and these are predicted to become more frequent in the near future, reducing recovery time. There is widespread agreement that management and thus also research, needs to provide more focus on direct intervention activities and restoration for coral reefs to complement traditional management and reducing global climate change. However, apart from some exceptions, we have very little experience in such activities and many potential activities are conceptual and have not yet been explored, or indeed, many may yet to have been thought of. We need to learn, as quickly as possible, from those who have already started on this journey, but we also need to develop out-of-the-box thinking about new ideas and approaches – something that will necessitate encouraging new expertise from outside the reef space. This event aims to bring together existing restoration practitioners, people with new concepts to present, and people with expertise in the array of other associated actions required to build and coordinate restoration programs. It is an event targeting all aspects (biological, social, political, financial etc.) of applied restoration in a collegial manner and with open, welcoming minds. For the purposes of this event, restoration also includes active intervention activities that may not strictly be restorative, such as the crown of thorns starfish control program operating in the GBR.
Broadly speaking, we seek a mix of three broad types of presentations:
1.) Presentations on actual restoration/intervention projects. Within such presentations, we would encourage people to focus as much on the process they went through to get the program in place, as on the results/outcomes.
2.) Presentations on developing political and social support for restoration, accessing philanthropy, developing citizen science and indigenous involvement, bringing together multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary teams, how to communicate such programs etc.
3.) Presentation of concepts for new restoration ideas. These include from the fields of engineers, oceanography, IT experts etc. We encourage the open-sharing of new ideas.
Presentation Formats: Oral Presentations; Speed Talks; Technical Talks; Poster Presentations; Videos. We are also taking suggestions for interactive Workshops.
For further information, see the website or contact damien.burrows@jcu.edu.au.
