Reef recollections: an oral history of the Great Barrier Reef

Abstract

As part of the social research program at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, a need was identified to gather information about the state of the Great Barrier Reef in the past 50 years. While scientific data has been collected since the inception of the Authority in the 1970s and by the Australian Institute of Marine Science at around the same time, scientific data is less available for earlier decades. Social information about how communities interacted and engaged with the Great Barrier Reef over time is rare. Of particular interest is how the environment and community have changed over time. While scientific knowledge provides valuable insights into the present condition and causes of environmental change and the processes by which it occurs, it often lacks a historical dimension.