Dousset, Jane, Curnock, Matthew I., Schultz, Tracy, Wang, Zoe Ju-Han, and Dean, Angela J. (2026) Stewardship Behaviour Among Residents of the Great Barrier Reef Region and the Role of Self-Efficacy. Environmental Management, 76. 208.

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Abstract

As the Great Barrier Reef (GBR, the Reef) faces unprecedented threats, reducing anthropogenic pressures and fostering stewardship within coastal communities are among the strategic priorities identified in the Australian and Queensland Government’s Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan. While research indicates that Australians have limited awareness of reef stewardship actions, few studies have specifically examined patterns and enablers of stewardship in reef communities. To address this gap, we surveyed residents of the GBR region (n = 2317) to examine (i) the types and prevalence of Reef stewardship actions amongst Reef residents (ii) the role of self-efficacy (i.e. an individual’s confidence in their own ability to achieve an outcome) in shaping stewardship behaviour on the GBR and (iii) factors that influence self-efficacy in relation to Reef-protection. We found that many residents report they perform stewardship actions related to pollution, like beach cleanups, with few respondents identifying actions related to climate mitigation. Analysis examining how factors shape stewardship and self-efficacy revealed a complex pattern of findings. On one hand, factors such as feeling a moral obligation to act supported stewardship engagement and self-efficacy. In contrast, being satisfied with reef management was associated with lower rates of stewardship and self-efficacy. These findings suggest a potential trade-off in perceptions of personal and institutional responsibility for action, and highlight the need promote narratives of shared responsibility when promoting stewardship.

Item ID:	92318
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1432-1009
Copyright Information:	This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Date Deposited:	10 Jun 2026 23:24
FoR Codes:	41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4104 Environmental management > 410404 Environmental management @ 100%
SEO Codes:	18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1805 Marine systems and management > 180599 Marine systems and management not elsewhere classified @ 100%
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