Scaling Seagrass Restoration
seagrass restoration on the Great Barrier Reef by establishing locally led delivery models (Traditional Owner, community, tourism) for restoration at three locations with operational seagrass nurseries.
Seagrass meadows on the GBR are particularly vulnerable to both natural and human-induced disruptions that lead to a reduction in their overall size, increase patchiness and reduce cover.
Scaling Seagrass Restoration on the Great Barrier Reef
This project will leverage existing nurseries and local capacity, to scale seagrass restoration into the GBR Marine Park. To support future scaling of seagrass restoration, we aimed to prove three delivery models for Traditional Owner and community-led seagrass cultivation and restoration.
On-ground partners: Central Queensland University, Woppaburra, OzFish, Reef Catchments, Seagrass-Watch
The objective of this project is to scale seagrass restoration on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) by establishing locally led delivery models (Traditional Owner, community, tourism) for restoration at three locations with operational seagrass nurseries.
Seagrass meadows on the GBR are particularly vulnerable to both natural and human-induced disruptions that lead to a reduction in their overall size, increase patchiness and reduce cover.
When this overall fragmentation reaches a critical threshold, large meadows collapse quickly, releasing trapped carbon and sediments. Waiting until this point to intervene is too late. Therefore,restoration and resilience building initiatives are pivotal to reviving and safeguarding these critical ecosystems. To address this challenge, CQUniversity has pioneered the development and implementation of seed-based seagrass restoration and associated SeaGrow seagrass nurseries on the GBR.
Seeding techniques have been demonstrated to be the most effective for scaled, cost-effective seagrass restoration. It requires large scale production of seeds through the collection of flowers from the field supplemented by production through nursery populations that are then dispersed across degraded meadows. With proof of concept achieved, and with three research focused SeaGrow nurseries (Gladstone, Airlie Beach and Konomie Island) now established across the GBR, there is an opportunity to utilise these infrastructure, resources and local capabilities to support large scale restoration.
As an on-ground partner, Seagrass-Watch , focus is on training and capacity building of First Nations partners and stakeholders.
Scaling Seagrass Restoration
seagrass restoration on the Great Barrier Reef by establishing locally led delivery models (Traditional Owner, community, tourism) for restoration at three locations with operational seagrass nurseries.
Seagrass meadows on the GBR are particularly vulnerable to both natural and human-induced disruptions that lead to a reduction in their overall size, increase patchiness and reduce cover.
Scaling Seagrass Restoration on the Great Barrier Reef
This project will leverage existing nurseries and local capacity, to scale seagrass restoration into the GBR Marine Park. To support future scaling of seagrass restoration, we aimed to prove three delivery models for Traditional Owner and community-led seagrass cultivation and restoration.
On-ground partners: Central Queensland University, Woppaburra, OzFish, Reef Catchments, Seagrass-Watch
Seagrass meadows on the GBR are particularly vulnerable to both natural and human-induced disruptions that lead to a reduction in their overall size, increase patchiness and reduce cover.
When this overall fragmentation reaches a critical threshold, large meadows collapse quickly, releasing trapped carbon and sediments. Waiting until this point to intervene is too late. Therefore,restoration and resilience building initiatives are pivotal to reviving and safeguarding these critical ecosystems. To address this challenge, CQUniversity has pioneered the development and implementation of seed-based seagrass restoration and associated SeaGrow seagrass nurseries on the GBR.
Seeding techniques have been demonstrated to be the most effective for scaled, cost-effective seagrass restoration. It requires large scale production of seeds through the collection of flowers from the field supplemented by production through nursery populations that are then dispersed across degraded meadows. With proof of concept achieved, and with three research focused SeaGrow nurseries (Gladstone, Airlie Beach and Konomie Island) now established across the GBR, there is an opportunity to utilise these infrastructure, resources and local capabilities to support large scale restoration.
As an on-ground partner, Seagrass-Watch , focus is on training and capacity building of First Nations partners and stakeholders.