Jon Day

In 1986, Jon joined the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) and for the next 28 years was involved in many aspects of planning and managing the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), including seven years in field management (Queensland Parks & Wildlife Service as QPWS Area/Regional Manager) and 16 years as one of the GBRMPA Directors. As a Director, Jon was variously responsible for biodiversity conservation, park planning, heritage (particularly World Heritage), Indigenous Partnerships, the GBR rezoning and developing methodologies for the first GBR Outlook Report.

Between 2007-2011, Jon represented Australia as the natural heritage expert on the Australian delegation to the World Heritage Committee. After Jon retired from GBRMPA in 2014, he then undertook a post-career PhD analysing the reasons behind the success of the GBR rezoning. This transformative policy process led to the current GBR zoning plan, and today it is recognised as the most effective policy review process ever to occur in the GBR, with many lessons for marine conservation around the globe.

Jon’s career highlight was his leadership role in the Representative Areas Program, the major rezoning of the GBR (1999-2004) that subsequently received various national and international awards. For his efforts, Jon was awarded an Australian Public Service Medal (PSM) and a Smithsonian-Queensland Fellowship.

Jon has published widely and is the lead author for various books including the Guidelines for Applying the IUCN Protected Area Management Categories to Marine Protected Areas, published by IUCN in 2012 and revised in 2019. Jon still publishes on marine management, climate change and World Heritage matters. In 2018, Jon co-developed with a JCU-colleague (Prof Scott Heron) the Climate Vulnerability Index (CVI), a rapid and systematic assessment tool that is currently being applied in natural and cultural heritage areas around the world. 

Find more of Jon's work in these places:

• Google Scholar
• The Conversation
• ResearchGate