From Business Intelligence to Conservation Intelligence: Operationalising adaptive pest control to protect the resilience of the Great Barrier Reef

Samuel Alexander Matthews, Roger Beeden, Mary Bonin, Camille Mellin, Morgan Pratchett, Isobel Ryan, Jennifer Wilmes, David Williamson

Resilience-Based Management (RBM) is crucial for enhancing outcomes in conservation interventions as the climate changes. To be effective it requires continuous modelling, assessment, evaluation and adjustment. Here, we adapt established Business Intelligence software into Conservation Intelligence tools to provide the near real-time analytics and a decision support system necessary for effective RBM. This approach is demonstrated using the Crown-of-Thorns Starfish Control Program on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef where integrated visual dashboards were developed to assess outbreak severity, prioritize control actions, evaluate effectiveness and incorporate emerging research to close the research-implementation gap. The flexibility of Business Intelligence software allows these Conservation Intelligence tools to be built and maintained ‘in-house’, meeting the Reef Authority’s explicit needs and reducing dependency on external developers or researchers. Conservation Intelligence tools can synthesize complex spatial-temporal data into flexible, user-friendly platforms specifically targeting stages of the RBM cycle that enable rapid iterations as programs and ecosystems adapt to climate change. This approach is readily transferable to other conservation challenges, particularly in government-led programs where enterprise software licenses may already exist and is particularly useful in ecologically complex but data rich environments.