Corals Gardens are an important means through which the Great Barrier Reef is understood, experienced and managed. With the impacts of climate and other global impacts, reef scientists are turning to increasingly radical forms of gardening.
Paper long abstract:
Corals Gardens are an important means through which the Great Barrier Reef is understood, experienced and managed. This paper traces the use of the coral garden analogy from early European attempts to make the Reef familiar, to futuristic experiments to ensure its survival. The coral garden allows visitors to experience the Reef through controlled and bounded spaces, separated from the dangers and wildness of the Reef itself. However, climate change and other global impacts transgress garden boundaries, and reef scientists are turning to increasingly radical forms of gardening to protect the Reef. These interventions make it clear that the Great Barrier Reef is a form of nature-culture, rather than a natural World Heritage property.