Assessing the Impact of Research on the Great Barrier Reef

Evaluating the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization’s (CSIRO) portfolio of projects supporting Australia’s Great Barrier Reef system

Great Barrier Reef Sustainability Challenges & Long-Term Planning

The Great Barrier Reef spans over 2,300 km (1,429 miles) and supports more than 66,000 jobs while contributing $6.4 billion annually to Australia's economy. Home to over 12,000 marine species, it faces growing threats from climate and environmental shifts like rising sea temperatures that have caused five mass bleaching events in the past decade, including one in 2023–2024. Other pressures such as pollution, reef damage caused by crown-of-thorns starfish population growth, coastal development, and ocean acidification, further endanger this fragile ecosystem.

As Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO has a long-standing commitment to research and science for the Great Barrier Reef, and to working in collaboration with a dynamic partner landscape of Reef managers, policymakers, brokering entities, and Reef-dependent communities and sectors.

New knowledge is critical for identifying emerging risks, informing policies and management strategies, designing and adaptively managing new interventions, and informing long-range planning. 

Evaluating Great Barrier Reef Research & Policy Efforts Effectiveness

RTI’s portfolio-level evaluation supported CSIRO in a clarified and better understanding of three key items:

1. What is the composition of CSIRO’s Great Barrier Reef research portfolio, and how does it align with the overarching Reef 2050 Plan goals that guide collective action in the Reef?
2. What social, environmental, and economic value has accrued (or will likely accrue in the future) to the Great Barrier Reef through CSIRO’s research efforts?
3. What has CSIRO contributed to the diverse partner landscape that supports collaborative research, management, and policy efforts in the Reef? What future risks and opportunities should CSIRO be aware of?

RTI's Great Barrier Reef Research Findings

We found that from 2011 to 2023, CSIRO worked on 261 research projects related to the Great Barrier Reef, totaling AUD $142 million. The research can be defined by seven focus areas: reef monitoring and modeling; social, economic, and indigenous science; engineering and technology; coastal and marine restoration; water quality land repair; water quality best management practices; and crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) control.

We analyzed five case studies and compared the benefit-cost ratio of four case studies, exempting one case that includes non-monetized benefits. Of the four quantitative case studies, all had a strong positive ratio with some having a higher monetary impact than others.

For example, the coral larval settlement and reseeding program consisted of CSIRO and its partners collecting and culturing hundreds of millions of different coral spawn slicks using environmentally sensitive reef- and vessel-based methods. Techniques to gather and reseed coral ensure the Reef has a sustainable future, allowing for repopulation and next-generation coral restoration. Our evaluators found the benefit-cost ratio to be 49.7, meaning that essentially, for every $1 invested in this project, the Reef is expected to receive $49.7 across assessed economic, environmental, and social benefits. 

Additionally, we interviewed CSIRO’s internal and external partners to identify CSIRO’s core contributions to the reef and future opportunities. Understanding how others view CSIRO’s operations while working with reef partners, like government actors, coordinating entities, external communities, etc., provides essential information for CSIRO when developing collaborative research efforts.

We interviewed 19 individuals within 9 organizations that actively promote the sustainability and maintenance of the Reef. Importantly, this portfolio evaluation included multiple learning and visioning sessions that provided CSIRO senior leadership with the opportunity to reflect on their research and have timely strategy discussions that typically do not manifest in large, multi-dimensional research organizations.

The Value of a Mixed-methods Approach

Overall, this evaluation upheld several design principles that further informed the unique nature of this work. RTI’s portfolio-level evaluation design principles included being: 

• Systems aware: Addressing a project’s research objectives along with a broader political, social, and economic landscape within the project’s operations.
• Use focused: Understanding internal stakeholder’s rationale for undertaking a portfolio-level evaluation and their use cases to increase value proposition.
• Participatory: Maintaining necessary input from diverse stakeholders and ensuring they are invested in evaluation outcomes and implications.

This effort provides CSIRO with the foundation for creating a replicable model for high-level portfolio evaluations that CSIRO can use for other portfolio-level research domains. 

Access the independent findings report and learn more about our work in applied economics and strategy.