This workshop was a starting point for an extensive review of our state of knowledge as well as the state of the World Heritage Area itself. A major report is planned to be published toward the end of this year that will assist managers and researchers in planning a way forward into the next century. Of considerable importance is the plan to use the report to identify gaps in knowledge and to prioritise the efforts that are going to be required to maintain or, indeed, improve the quality of the World Heritage environment. Issues that I haven't reported on in this article, but which will be a significant part of the final report, include the 'softer' sciences that relate to visitor experiences, wilderness, the many kinds of values that people place on the Area and levels of use. Hopefully these will be summarised in future editions of Reef Research. While the report is intended to give a holistic snapshot of the Area, it will still need to be put into the context of the political and social mores of the time to be of true value.
Steve Raaymakers raises an interesting point in 'Slick Talk' regarding the use of computer simulations and resource inventories as one of the tools that can be used to combat oil spills. He writes that he has 'as yet been unable identify a case where operational use of a computer model in a particular real-life spill has demonstrably resulted in decreased environmental impact from the spill'. Now, I suspect that he may well be correct and I, too, would like to hear from anyone who wishes to take up the challenge and show how modelling has been the effective tool that it is invariably cracked up to be.
| Ed. |
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
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