Living Boulders have been installed at Spit West Reserve in Mosman, creating habitat space for a wide variety of marine organisms. This initiative builds on the success of the Living Seawalls installation at Ellery Park in 2023, aiming to enhance the ecological value of seawalls and improve biodiversity and ecosystem health along urbanised coastlines.
The Living Boulders are designed to ecologically enhance the rock revetment at Spit West Reserve. The existing shoreline was artificially constructed, covering the natural rocky habitat and removing vital features such as rockpools. The habitat boulders incorporate rockpools that provide refuge for marine organisms from desiccation and predators.
This installation marks the third Living Boulders project in the world, and the second in Australia. The first, installed at Lavender Bay in North Sydney in 2023, led to a 68% increase in biodiversity along the revetment.
Council's Environment Coordinator and marine scientist Dr Paloma Matis said "Mosman Council is proud to be the home of the second ever Living Boulders installation. Following the success of the Living Seawall at Ellery Park, we are eager to see how this new initiative will support biodiversity along Mosman's foreshore by creating habitat for marine life to thrive."
Researchers will conduct regular ecological surveys of the Living Boulders and surrounding areas to monitor the impact of these habitat enhancements on local biodiversity.
Dr Janine Ledet, Research Associate - Living Seawalls explained "these micro habitats are crucial for being able to encourage small species like snails and other little fish to come and swim in and use them as habitat.
"This is going to be an installation that we're going to monitor annually, and we'll compare it to control sites on either side to make sure that the boulders are acting as we expect them and boosting biodiversity here at Spit West Reserve."
This project is supported by the NSW Government through its Environmental Trust.
Living Seawalls is a flagship program of the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, delivered in collaboration with Reef Design Lab, UNSW, and Macquarie University.
