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Restoring Coastal Habitats Innovative solutions for restoring reef and coastal ecosystems

There is pressing need for effective restoration in many ecosystems, from rainforest to reef. However, restoration effort is generally uncoordinated, and there is little information about the short- or long-term effectiveness of such projects, or any ability to learn from successes and failures such that return-on-investment improves over time.

In response, we undertook a values-based rather than threats-based approach to our restoration research work through the NESP TWQ Hub. We conducted evaluations of past and current restoration efforts in all parts of the catchment as well as on coral reefs, delivering answers about what works best, when, and where. We applied innovative solutions to problems, such as adapting minesite rehabilitation techniques to tackle gully erosion. These solutions have already been adopted by landholders, Indigenous groups and NGOs and in some cases have achieved enormous reductions in the amount of soil being lost into reef catchments.

In recognition that restoration is about people, not just ecosystems, we’ve also commissioned socio-economic research to generate more explicit economic benefits for regional communities associated with ecosystem restoration activities, beyond restoration of ecosystem services. For example, canefarmers now better understand how they can receive better value from restoring wetlands on poor-yield areas of their properties.

In several areas our work has contributed to shifting some restoration problems from the “too-hard” basket into “do-able” categories. Along the way one of our teams led by Prof Andrew Brooks at Griffith University also collected a Eureka Prize!

Related Projects

Developing an approach to evaluate the effectiveness of investments in riparian management in the GBR catchments - Project 1.2

Reducing sediment sources to the Reef: testing the effectiveness of managing alluvial gully erosion - Project 1.7

Assessing the cumulative impacts of climatic disturbances on inshore GBR coral reefs, identifying key refuges and testing the viability of manipulative reef restoration - Project 2.1

Scoping options for low-lying, marginal cane land to reduce DIN in priority wet tropics catchments - Project 2.1.2

Demonstration and evaluation of gully remediation on downstream water quality and agricultural production in GBR rangelands - Project 2.1.4

The application and adaption of mine site rehabilitation approaches to alluvial gully rehabilitation in the Bowen Catchment - Project 2.1.10

Working with Traditional Owners and local citizens to better manage GBR estuarine wetlands - Project 2.3.4

Best practice coral restoration for the Great Barrier Reef - Project 4.3

The traits of corals that survived recent bleaching events - Project 4.4

Gully characterisation framework to underpin GBR catchment water quality management - Project 4.9

Evaluating the costs and benefits of agricultural land conversion to wetlands - Project 4.10

Assessing the Gulf of Carpentaria mangrove dieback - Project 4.13

Gully remediation effectiveness - Project 5.9

Development and application of automated tools for high resolution gully mapping and classification from LiDAR data - Project 5.10

Coastal wetland systems repair across GBR catchments – values based causal framework validation - Project 5.13

Restoring ecosystems from catchment to reef - Project 6.2

There is pressing need for effective restoration in many ecosystems, from rainforest to reef. However, restoration effort is generally uncoordinated, and there is little information about the short- or long-term effectiveness of such projects, or any ability to learn from successes and failures such that return-on-investment improves over time.

In response, we undertook a values-based rather than threats-based approach to our restoration research work through the NESP TWQ Hub. We conducted evaluations of past and current restoration efforts in all parts of the catchment as well as on coral reefs, delivering answers about what works best, when, and where. We applied innovative solutions to problems, such as adapting minesite rehabilitation techniques to tackle gully erosion. These solutions have already been adopted by landholders, Indigenous groups and NGOs and in some cases have achieved enormous reductions in the amount of soil being lost into reef catchments.

In recognition that restoration is about people, not just ecosystems, we’ve also commissioned socio-economic research to generate more explicit economic benefits for regional communities associated with ecosystem restoration activities, beyond restoration of ecosystem services. For example, canefarmers now better understand how they can receive better value from restoring wetlands on poor-yield areas of their properties.

In several areas our work has contributed to shifting some restoration problems from the “too-hard” basket into “do-able” categories. Along the way one of our teams led by Prof Andrew Brooks at Griffith University also collected a Eureka Prize!

Related Projects

Developing an approach to evaluate the effectiveness of investments in riparian management in the GBR catchments - Project 1.2

Reducing sediment sources to the Reef: testing the effectiveness of managing alluvial gully erosion - Project 1.7

Assessing the cumulative impacts of climatic disturbances on inshore GBR coral reefs, identifying key refuges and testing the viability of manipulative reef restoration - Project 2.1

Scoping options for low-lying, marginal cane land to reduce DIN in priority wet tropics catchments - Project 2.1.2

Demonstration and evaluation of gully remediation on downstream water quality and agricultural production in GBR rangelands - Project 2.1.4

The application and adaption of mine site rehabilitation approaches to alluvial gully rehabilitation in the Bowen Catchment - Project 2.1.10

Working with Traditional Owners and local citizens to better manage GBR estuarine wetlands - Project 2.3.4

Best practice coral restoration for the Great Barrier Reef - Project 4.3

The traits of corals that survived recent bleaching events - Project 4.4

Gully characterisation framework to underpin GBR catchment water quality management - Project 4.9

Evaluating the costs and benefits of agricultural land conversion to wetlands - Project 4.10

Assessing the Gulf of Carpentaria mangrove dieback - Project 4.13

Gully remediation effectiveness - Project 5.9

Development and application of automated tools for high resolution gully mapping and classification from LiDAR data - Project 5.10

Coastal wetland systems repair across GBR catchments – values based causal framework validation - Project 5.13

Restoring ecosystems from catchment to reef - Project 6.2

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