Conserving and restoring Australia's Great Southern Seascapes

Conserving and restoring Australia’s ‘Great Southern Seascapes’ Simon Branigan1*, Chris Gillies1, James Fitzsimons1, Lynne Hale1, Boze Hancock1 (1) The Nature Conservancy, Suite 2-01, 60 Leicester Street, Carlton VIC... [ view full abstract ]

Conserving and restoring Australia’s ‘Great Southern Seascapes’

Simon Branigan1*, Chris Gillies1, James Fitzsimons1, Lynne Hale1, Boze Hancock1

(1) The Nature Conservancy, Suite 2-01, 60 Leicester Street, Carlton VIC 3053, Australia
(2) * Presenting author
Emails: simon.branigan@tnc.org; chris.gillies@tnc.org; jfitzsimons@tnc.org;

Based on the recommendation of a 2012 expert workshop on Conservation and Restoration of Temperate Australian Marine and Coastal Habitats, The Nature Conservancy (Australia Program) is starting work with a wide range of partners—from government, the private sector and the vast number of Australians who rely on the ocean for both their livelihoods and recreation—to accelerate and scale the conservation and restoration of coastal habitats in bays and estuaries across southern Australia. The Great Southern Seascapes program is built around a ‘two-track’ approach: an in-depth focus on ‘in-water’ restoration; complemented by work at the state and national scale to leverage results and funding.

Initial focal bays are Port Philip Bay and Western Port Bay where the program has launched a collaborative pilot project to trial how to restore shellfish reefs in Port Phillip Bay. Other pilot projects that are in the early stages of planning include blue carbon sequestration and shoreline protection focusing on a mix of saltmarsh, mangrove and shellfish reef habitats. These pilot projects will develop good practice models through collaborative, partner driven projects that improve ecological function, provide services to coastal communities and have potential for replication.