The Crown of Thorns Starfish Control Innovation Program is an innovative collaboration between The Great Barrier Reef Foundation and a variety of leading experts from partner institutions including The University of Queensland, AIMS, CSIRO, and James Cook University. The research done by the CCIP directly improves the on-ground approach to coral protection, and therefore also coral reproduction and repopulation by finding solutions to the COTS threat. The Centre's Associate Professor Pedro Fidelman leads on policy and regulation and contributes to several projects within the program:
Stakeholder perceptions and co-benefits
Project team: JCU (lead), UQ
This project will provide the first empirical examination of GBR stakeholder perspectives related to COTS and their management. It will leverage sociocultural research planned as part of RRAP, extending those stakeholder engagements and interviews to measure perceptions of acceptability, risks and benefits related to COTS control. UQ’s role specifically involves assessing the regulatory and policy implications of selected novel control methods.
Crown-of-Thorns Starfish Control Innovation Program (CCIP) (completed)
CCIP is working on innovative and scalable ways to control crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) in the Great Barrier Reef, and, therefore, reduce coral mortality from COTS outbreaks at high-value reefs. As part of CCIP feasibility and design phase, this project explored policy and regulatory implications of COTS control interventions, and identified research needs for CCIP R&D phase.
Read more about the Crown of Thorns Starfish Control Innovation Program here.