A pioneering project to restore the nearly extinct shellfish reefs that once protected Australia's shores has been named today as a World Restoration Flagship by the United Nations.
The UN announcement recognises the Reef Builder project, a partnership between The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Australian Government, as one of the planet's most ambitious, science-based, and inspiring examples of large-scale ecosystem restoration in action.
Since 2021, the Reef Builder project has established native oyster and mussel reefs at 21 sites around Australia, jumpstarting the restoration of an ecosystem that once covered a third of the country's coastline. These reefs filtered billions of litres of seawater and reduced wave damage, before dredging and overharvesting last century wiped out more than 90% of them.
Over the past century, however, more than 90% of Australia's shellfish reefs have disappeared due to dredging and overharvest. These important ecosystems are now functionally extinct, losing a critical coastal habitat and leaving our shoreline exposed to increasingly extreme weather.
The Reef Builder project is the largest marine restoration initiative in the nation's history, and the project and subsequent work has successfully restored 21 native oyster and mussel reefs around Australia's southern coast. The project has been supported by funding from the Australian Government, state governments, corporate partners and generous philanthropists.
TNC Australia aims to scale these efforts up and rebuild 60 shellfish reefs in Australian waters by 2030. The organisation is partnering with government, natural resource management organisations, industry, Traditional Owners, community groups, recreational fishers and universities to achieve this ambitious target.
