Bridging Managers’ Place Meanings and Environmental Governance of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article bridges managers’ place meanings and environmental governance to provide insight on the factors that shape decisions concerning the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) Marine Park. Drawing on a thematic analysis and open coding of data from 34 semistructured interviews, we investigated the perspectives of managers from three agencies charged with protecting the GBR. We observed that a plurality of place meanings converged on five themes: (i) stewardship of the environment, (ii) utilization and access to natural resources, (iii) individualized experience, (iv) intergenerational connections, and (v) spirituality in place. Results revealed that these themes were complemented by formal and informal policy instruments that comprised our governance framework. Informal policy instruments played a particularly important role in the co-creation of knowledge, facilitated negotiations between managers and their constituencies, and increased public involvement in decision making.