Jordan Gacutan

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Senior Research Associate at Centre for Sustainable Development Reform

Exploring the theoretical links between marine spatial planning and ocean accounting. In press - Marine Policy.

Anthropogenic marine debris is a persistent threat to oceans, imposing risks to ecosystems and the communities they support. Whilst an understanding of marine debris risks is steadily advancing, monitoring at spatial and temporal scales relevant to management remains limited. Citizen science projects address this shortcoming but are often critiqued...

Nature as a climate solution: Country, culture and nature-based solutions for mitigating climate change

Marine plastic pollution poses a global environmental challenge, understanding dispersal patterns at management-relevant scales is required to inform effective actions. We combine high-resolution oceanographic modelling and particle tracking with empirical data from Australia's largest marine debris database to investigate plastic debris transport...

Ocean Accounts, aligned with the UN System of Environmental Economic Accounting – Environmental Accounting (SEEA EA), bring together economic, social and environmental information in a coherent and standardised manner. Ecosystem extent is a structure to understand environmental assets and uses a basic spatial unit to facilitate the classification a...

Environmental data on fundamental vulnerabilities of the natural environment and ecological systems of the Maldives are essential for understanding the unprecedented changes these systems are undergoing, mitigating the impacts sustainably, and developing appropriate and effective adaptation measures to safeguard Maldivian environments, culture, and...

Ecosystem Accounting provides a framework to measure and value relationships amongst ecosystems, society and the economy. The accounts measure ecosystem extent, condition and services, providing the means to identify and internalise ecological degradation, as well as understanding the risks and dependencies of economic activities on the environment...

Plastic debris within marine environments is an issue of global concern, leading to commitments at international, regional, and national scales to remove plastics from the environment and prevent further entry. The United Nations (UN) created a global framework of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with several goals to advance the environmen...

Ecosystem Accounting provides a framework to measure and value relationships between ecosystems, society and the economy. The accounts measure ecosystem extent, condition, and services, providing the means to identify and internalise ecological degradation, as well as understanding the risks and dependencies of economic activities on the environmen...

Plastic pollution poses environmental and socio-economic risks, requiring policy and management interventions. The evidence-base for informing management and evaluation of their effectiveness is limited. Partnerships with citizen scientists provide opportunities to increase the spatio-temporal scale of monitoring programs, where training and standa...

Stormwater drains act as a pathway for anthropogenic debris from land to sea, particularly in urbanised estuaries where impervious surfaces expedite the process. Debris type and abundance in stormwater drains may vary due to land use and human activity, and knowledge of this variation is necessary to manage the growing threat of debris. Surveys of...

There has been an increasing interest in ecosystem accounting in response to the need to internalise the depletion and degradation of natural resources in macroeconomic accounting. This paper presents the first attempt at ecosystem accounting at a regional scale, to support multiple management and policy frameworks.

Anthropogenic debris is a widespread and prevalent component of aquatic systems. Organisms are increasing exposed to debris, leading to detrimental impacts through pathways such as entanglement, ingestion, and bioaccumulation. Multiple taxa interact with debris, and while the consequences to individual organisms are known in principle, their impact...

The Western Indian Ocean (WIO) is critical in supporting the social and economic development of the nations it borders. To safeguard the various opportunities it provides, it is essential to adopt sustainable ocean development models that balance ocean wealth and ocean health. Such models depend on evidence-based and adaptative ocean governance und...

Coasts lie at the interface between terrestrial and marine environments, where complex interrelationships and feedbacks between environmental, social and economic factors provide a challenge for decision-making. The knowledge and data needed to link and measure these multiple domains are often highly fragmented and incoherent. Ocean Accounting prov...

Ocean planning and management is often tasked with balancing multiple policy priorities, such as the growth of ocean-related sectors, conserving ecosystem health and biodiversity, and considerations of equity and inclusivity. Over the last two decades, aligning and operationalising such priorities has increasingly been addressed through Marine Spat...

A novel methodology using expert elicitation (Delphi method) and GIS to determine spatial risk of specific debris items, in support of management nterventions.

Ocean decision-makers are tasked with balancing social, economic, and environmental considerations when addressing complex policy challenges and achieving strategic objectives, such as conservation targets, or sustainable and ocean-based economic development agendas. Like many common environmental assets, oceans have been impacted by a history of i...

Aligned with the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting and the Ocean Accounting technical guidance, we compile accounts for mangrove, tidal marsh and seagrass, linking ecosystem extent and services to the local ocean economy.

A global review of the growing intersection of Marine Spatial Planning and Ocean Accounting activities globally. Currently under review.

Marine or maritime spatial planning (MSP) works across borders and sectors to ensure human activities at sea take place in an efficient and sustainable way. The ecosystem service (ES) concept links ecosystem functioning to human well-being and has emerged as a potential framework supporting MSP, as it can be used to link different sectorial and env...

We describe the design and structure of a web-based visualization tool for an Australian marine debris database and its application in environmental research, management and science communication. We give examples of its use in generating hypotheses regarding processes driving the distribution of marine debris, identifying source reduction opportun...

Economic activities are reliant on natural capital (NC), which are responsible for the provision of ‘Ecosystem Services’ (ES). Understanding the dependency of activities to specific NC provides insight into the capacity of an ecosystem to maintain and develop such activities. To determine NC dependencies, we link NC to maritime activities via ES, u...

Economic activities are dependent upon natural capital (NC), which are responsible for 'Ecosystem Services' (ES). Understanding dependencies on NC provides insight into the ecosystem's capacity to maintain and develop activities into the future. To determine 'NC dependencies', we present a framework linking maritime activities (bottom trawling, art...

Sediment transport is a key driver of reef zonation and biodiversity, where an understanding of sediment dynamics gives insights into past reef processes and allows the prediction of geomorphic responses to changing environmental conditions. However, modal conditions within the back-reef seldom promote sediment transport, hence direct observation i...

Sediment dynamics exert large control over coral reef geomorphological evolution and are vital to understanding past and present geomorphic responses. Large benthic foraminifera (LBF) live in the algal reef flats, and their tests (shells) are transported post-mortem by waves and currents onto back-reef environments, including sand aprons. This stud...