Article
25 May 2023
A wide range of factors contribute to the degradation of Australia’s marine and coastal habitats, including coastal development, pollution and climate change. Momentum is building in Australia and internationally to restore these ecosystems.
The Marine and Coastal Hub is consolidating what we’ve learned from past research and setting strategic and technical guideposts for the next research phase including the need for:
- national and regional planning and coordination;
- guidelines and standardisation;
- public availability of data;
- tools for economic analyses;
- building of genuine, ongoing partnerships; and
- co-design and leadership with First Nations people.
Several tools and guidance documents have been delivered through the hub projects including:
- a national overview of coastal wetland mapping and research priorities;
- a 10-step roadmap to scaling up marine and coastal restoration;
- revised guidelines to facilitate coordinated and open-science restoration monitoring;
- a national inventory of nature-based projects to mitigate coastal hazards;
- an approach to identifying sites for tidal restoration; and
- a guide to the inclusion of sediment processes in seagrass restoration.
This article was first published in NESP News, the quarterly newsletter of the National Environmental Science Program.
