Aligning social and ecological goals for successful marine restoration

Kenny, Ishtar; Connell, Sean D.; Drew, Georgina; Wright, Alison; Carruthers, Sandy; McAfee, Dominic

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2023.110357

Cited by 3 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…Consultation for public feedback and local community engagement has taken the form of face‐to‐face forums, online public votes on reef location, stakeholder committees to gather diverse perspectives, and mainstream media (McAfee et al 2021 a ). These consultations have identified widespread public support for the restoration that has equipped the State Government with a social license to expand the restoration work (Kenny et al 2023).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Historically, this site was once characterized by seagrass meadows and/or flat oyster reefs but transitioned to sedimentary seafloors following extensive twentieth‐century losses of seagrass (Tanner et al 2014) and the earlier eradication of oyster reefs (Alleway & Connell 2015). Prior to construction, a public consultation process was undertaken to gather public opinion on reef location and identify support and concerns for the restoration (Kenny et al 2023), a process through which this site was selected.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Logistical and policy considerations were evaluated from first‐hand experience in accessing the site, working with practitioners, and engaging in community consultation activities on the project (e.g. McAfee et al 2021 a ; Kenny et al 2023). Finally, threats to the restoration were assessed via in situ observations of invasive species and sediment smother, and current human activities in the area relative to past use (Alleway & Connell 2015).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The public perceived diverse social, economic, and environmental benefits of the restoration, including socio-political opportunities to address contemporary coastal challenges (e.g. recovering lost seagrass and reducing coastal sand movement, for which the physical conditions of the reef hold promise; Kenny et al 2023). Although the restoration is still young, the sustained public enthusiasm for this and more recent restorations suggests this restoration work is creating a positive social and environmental legacy.…”

Section: Social-political Positioningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite uncertainty on the precise historical location of near‐shore oyster reefs (i.e. within 1 km) along this moderately exposed coastline, efforts were initiated to restore the ecosystem and provide recreational fishing opportunities for the metropolitan population (Kenny et al 2023). To evaluate restoration progress, we assessed the ecological development of the benthic community and associated ecological processes using the Ecological Recovery Wheel and 5‐star rating system—developed by the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) to track the level of restoration progress (Gann et al 2019)—relative to local rocky reef ecosystems and a theoretical reference system developed for Australian Flat oysters (Gillies et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Reversing functional extinction: successful restoration of eradicated oyster reefs

McAfee,

McLeod,

Carruthers

et al. 2024

Restoration Ecology

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Functionally extinct ecosystems, those that have been locally eradicated save for remnant individuals, are unlikely to naturally recover over meaningful human time frames. However, ecosystem restoration provides opportunities to reverse functional extinction by rapidly addressing the physical and/or biological barriers that prevent natural recovery. Here, we assess the restoration progress of a native Flat oyster (Ostrea angasi) reef ecosystem in South Australia that was eradicated from the Australian mainland approximately 100 years ago. In the absence of any reference Flat oyster ecosystems in the region, restoration progress was assessed relative to ecological targets informed by a combination of local rocky reef ecosystems and an interim Flat oyster reference model informed by Australia's sole remaining O. angasi reef, in Tasmania. Two and half a years after the restoration was initiated via the construction of 14 boulder reefs, we observed densities of restored native adult O. angasi (192 ± 19 m−2; mean ± 1 SE) that exceeded oyster densities observed on the sole remaining natural reef. Communities of macroinvertebrates on the reef restoration represented approximately 60% of the biodiversity observed on healthy rocky reef reference systems, while ecological functions (e.g. filter feeding) are demonstrably increasing. The rate of recovery of this benthic ecosystem, from functionally extinct to a restored Flat oyster reef ecosystem within several years, demonstrates the latent resilience of degraded oyster communities and the capacity for effective marine restorations to achieve rapid ecological recoveries.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Social-political Positioningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reversing functional extinction: successful restoration of eradicated oyster reefs

McAfee,

McLeod,

Carruthers

et al. 2024

Restoration Ecology

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Ten golden rules for restoration to secure resilient and just seagrass social‐ecological systems

Unsworth,

Jones,

Bertelli

et al. 2024

Plants People Planet

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Societal Impact StatementSeagrass meadows are a globally important habitat subject to significant loss. As efforts to restore these sensitive habitats are hampered by their high cost and low levels of reliability, rigorous guidance is required to improve effectiveness and ensure they are cost‐effective. Here, we define 10 golden rules for how we can undertake seagrass restoration. We do this by considering that for seagrass restoration to be successful, it needs to take place with people and not against people. The framework we present aims to direct efforts for seagrass restoration that are holistic and achieve broad goals for people, biodiversity and the planet.SummaryThe world has lost a significant proportion of its seagrass, and although glimmers of hope for its recovery exist, losses and degradations continue. First and foremost, evidence highlights the need to put the world on a global pathway to seagrass net gain. Achieving this outcome requires that conservation of what remains is a priority, but reaching net gain requires seagrass coverage to increase at rates unlikely to be achieved naturally; large‐scale active restoration is required to fill this gap. Novel finance mechanisms aligned to the climate emergency and biodiversity crises are increasingly leading to larger scale restoration projects. However, no clear framework exists for developing or prioritising approaches. With seagrass restoration expensive and unreliable, rigorous guidance is required to improve effectiveness and ensure it is cost‐effective. Building on evidence from terrestrial and marine sources, here, we apply the ‘10 golden rules’ concept, first outlined for reforestation and later applied to coral reefs, to seagrass restoration. In doing so, we follow international standards for ecological restoration and view seagrass restoration in a broad context, whereby regeneration can be achieved either by planting or by enhancing and facilitating natural recovery. These rules somewhat differ from those on reforestation and coral reef restoration, principally due to the relative immaturity of seagrass restoration science. These 10 golden rules for seagrass restoration are placed within a coupled social‐ecological systems context, and we present a framework for conservation more broadly, to achieve multiple goals pertaining to people, biodiversity and the planet.

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Ecodevelopment strategy selection and case simulation of marine ranching enterprises based on evolutionary games

Sun,

Du,

Wang

2024

Regional Studies in Marine Science

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Aligning social and ecological goals for successful marine restoration

Cited by 3 publications

References 50 publications

Reversing functional extinction: successful restoration of eradicated oyster reefs

Reversing functional extinction: successful restoration of eradicated oyster reefs

Ten golden rules for restoration to secure resilient and just seagrass social‐ecological systems

Ecodevelopment strategy selection and case simulation of marine ranching enterprises based on evolutionary games

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