The Great Reef Census continues to empower citizens across Australia and around the world to do their part to conserve and protect the Great Barrier Reef.
The Census is led by Citizens of the Reef. It is one of the world's most ambitious reef conservation movements.
The Census mobilises tourists, divers and other partners to capture photos of the Reef. Assisted by cutting-edge artificial intelligence, those images can then be analysed by anyone.
This is filling data gaps and complementing other world-class monitoring programs already on the Reef.
Analysing these images supports our scientists to:
- understand Reef health
- track changes over time
- identify areas that need protection most
Since the Census began:
- more than 25% of the Great Barrier Reef has been surveyed.
- 740 unique reefs have been surveyed.
- more than 15,000 people around the world have analysed images.
- nearly 500,000 reef images have been analysed.
The Great Reef Census 5 recently finished. It was the biggest Census to date:
- more than 150,000 analyses were completed on Priority reefs.
- 7,830 virtual volunteers were involved.
- people participated from more than 1,000 locations worldwide.
The Census is supported by funding through the Australian Government's Reef Trust.
It is one of three projects funded through the Great Barrier Reef Citizen Science Program.
This funding will support the census to continue engaging tens of thousands of volunteers and improve the usefulness and accessibility of Reef data.
