ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Environmental Policy and Governance
A horizon scan for improving pesticide management and governance in the Great Barrier Reef catchment
Provisionally accepted
Aaron M. Davis1*
Steve Attard2Lawrence Di Bella3Evan Shannon4Robert Sluggest5Rob Milla6Emilie Fillols7- 1Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic Ecosystem Research, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia
- 2Agritech Solutions, Ayr, Queensland, Australia
- 3Tropical Agricultural Services, Ingham, Queensland, Australia
- 4Farmacist, Ayr, Queensland, Australia
- 5Farmacist, Sandiford, Queensland, Australia
- 6Burdekin Productivity Services, Ayr, Queensland, Australia
- 7Sugar Research Australia Ltd, Brisbane, Australia
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The current policy environment for improving catchment pesticide water quality entering Australia's Great Barrier Reef lagoon is based around Scientific Consensus Statement processes, which utilise systematic scientific literature reviews to develop policy recommendations. This paper modifies consensus approaches to incorporate structured horizon scanning into future policy needs facing farming sustainability in the Great Barrier Reef watershed. Horizon scanning identified several emerging challenges, and opportunities, spanning diverse themes including: a dynamic pesticide regulation and accessibility future; the need for better policy recognition of whole-of-farming system sustainability considerations; little consistency in integrated pest management frameworks across industries; technology; and increasingly complex stakeholder engagement needs. Several of the highest priority issues identified received no, or only cursory, attention in more backward-looking Scientific Consensus Statement outputs. These issues need careful integration into future Great Barrier Reef policy initiatives to maximise impact of already substantial government and industry investment in improved farming practice change.
Keywords: water quality1, sustainable agriculture2, transdisciplinary3, integrated pest management4, Agroecology5, pesticide regulation6, participatory policy7, ecosystem services8
Received: 10 Aug 2025; Accepted: 18 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Davis, Attard, Di Bella, Shannon, Sluggest, Milla and Fillols. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Aaron M. Davis, aaron.davis@jcu.edu.au
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