On May 7 2021, Scott Bennett (CMS, IMAS) hosted a public webinar and Q&A entitled “Forests of gold: uncovering the value of Australia’s Great Southern Reef” as part of the Seaweed Forests Festival, a month-long event bringing together art, science and community to celebrate Australia’s underwater forests.
The panel for the webinar included Assoc Prof Adriana Verges (UNSW and the Sydney Institute of Marine Science), Dr Melinda Coleman (Principal Research Scientist Department of Primary Industries NSW), Stephen Bunney (Commercial Abalone Diver, from NSW), Dr Abbie Rogers (Co-director of Centre for Environmental Economics & Policy and UWA Oceans Institute, UWA) and Prof Thomas Wernberg (UWA Oceans Institute & School of Biological Sciences, UWA).
The webinar was an interactive discussion between panellists and audience about the Great Southern Reef. What is it? Why is it important? How does it benefit Australia? What challenges does it face? What opportunities does it offer?
The webinar was targeted at state management agencies, policy makers and stakeholders of the Great Southern Reef from around Australia to raise awareness of the importance and interconnectedness of the reef. The webinar had 129 online viewers.
Link to the webinar recording can be found at : www.greatsouthernreef.com/webinar
Clip played at the beginning of the webinar introducing the GSR can be found here: https://youtu.be/LMgXuG_xu5g
Link to the Seaweed Forest festival: https://www.seaweedforestsfestival.com/
*Image credit: IMAS
