The new environmental Common Assessment and Reporting Framework (CARF)

A common assessment and reporting framework (CARF) is proposed based on a deliberate synthesis of the monitoring, evaluation and reporting (MER) frameworks that have been operating in the estuarine, coastal and marine arenas across fisheries, conservation, marine bioregional planning for commonwealth, regional, state and territory frameworks including the ECAF. CARF is consistent with a defined set of principles and those prescribed by ecologically sustainable development, ecosystem based management, ecosystem based fishery management, and ecosystem services approaches. It makes explicit the steps needed to produce the information base required for adaptive management purposes. It is flexible and can be used throughout the full range of MER activities – from local through to regional, program, state, national and international levels. It is intended to support integrated reporting and can be used to: • guide the selection of indicators and design monitoring programs • evaluate and grow the information base needed for management including inventories, data gap analyses, classifications, and document current best environmental (ecosystem) understanding • produce vulnerability assessments, risk assessments and reports • produce ecological condition assessments and reports (‘status and trend reports’) • produce predictive ‘outlook’ reports • support program evaluations and performance assessments