Understanding
Community Perceptions
Tracking how people interact with, value and perceive their waterways.
Our waterways do more than flow.
They’re vital ecosystems that underpin culture, recreation, and livelihoods. That’s why we’re exploring the connection between communities and their waterways.
Waterways play an integral part in everyone’s lives. Large-scale, socio-economic surveys are helping us understand how people interact with, value and perceive their waterways.
By integrating community sentiment and environmental data from the Waterways Report Card, we can better promote and enhance community stewardship to improve the health of our rivers, creeks, and coasts. Healthy waterways = healthy communities.
The Social and Economic Long-Term Monitoring Program (SELTMP) was established in 2011, with the Regional Report Card Partnership’s becoming involved in 2021. Ongoing funding will see the project continue until 2029.
The growing body of data will help Reef managers make more informed decisions that support the health of the Great Barrier Reef and the needs of the people who rely on it.
The project, “Integrated human dimension monitoring and reporting for adaptive management of the Great Barrier Reef: 2025–2029," is delivered by CSIRO and funded by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
Explore community perceptions, and how public attitudes have shifted, in the SELTMP dashboard.
The next round of surveys will be undertaken in 2026.
Charting human connections
