The Scientific Consensus Statement

Land use impacts on Great Barrier Reef water quality and ecosystem condition

The independent 2022 Scientific Consensus Statement (the Statement) delves deep into the science used to understand how activities on the land influence water quality and how water quality affects Reef health.

The Statement is one of a number of inputs contributing to the Reef 2050 Water Quality Improvement Plan review. This is the fifth iteration of the Scientific Consensus Statement, with the first report developed in 2002.

How the Statement was developed

The Statement was developed between 2022 and 2024 and includes:

• demonstrated independence from decision makers
• high levels of transparency and rigour in the synthesis methods
• assessment of the level of confidence in the findings, and
• broad engagement and increased accessibility to the outputs.

The Statement involved 147 authors and reviewers from Australia and overseas and addresses 30 priority questions organised into eight themes.

The questions provide the supporting evidence for the 2022 Scientific Consensus Statement Summary and 2022 Scientific Consensus Statement Conclusions. These outputs, and documents detailing the process can be found on the website.

The eight themes

• Themes 1 and 2: Values, condition and drivers of health of the Great Barrier Reef
• Theme 3: Sediments and Particulate Nutrients – Catchment to Reef
• Theme 4: Dissolved nutrients – Catchment to Reef
• Themes 5 and 6: Pesticides and Other Pollutants – Catchment to Reef
• Themes 7 and 8: Human dimensions of water quality improvement and Emerging Science

For more information, read the Frequently asked questions.