Scientists are calling for a national approach to marine and coastal restoration. 

Researchers say failing to restore lost and degraded coastal ecosystems on a national scale is too important to risk, with climate change pressure increasing.

CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, and James Cook University (JCU) have released ‘A Roadmap for Coordinated Landscape-scale Coastal and Marine Ecosystem Restoration’, which involved input from more than 170 contributors, including scientists, First Nations people, government agencies and non-governmental agencies, funded by the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program.

JCU’s Prof Nathan Waltham says a lack of coordination across projects is one of the biggest barriers stopping large-scale restoration.

“We’re investing lots of money and time in restoration, and because it takes more than ten years to start seeing outcomes from restored sites, it’s imperative restoration projects are done right from the start,” he said.

“At this stage, we’re not seeing enough of a coordinated approach, there is too much red tape, Indigenous groups are not being brought in early enough, funding is scarce, and some projects are not using science-based methods and therefore are not always successful.”

Legislation barriers were found to be a major speed bump in scaling up restoration, causing unanticipated costs, delays in the start date of projects, and even preventing projects from going ahead.

CSIRO’s Dr Megan Saunders says ecological restoration is one of the most critical activities to mitigate and adapt to climate change, with these ‘blue carbon’ coastal ecosystems powerhouses in storing carbon and protecting shorelines from coastal hazards.

“Australia has lost so much natural capital already, including 92 per cent of oyster reefs in the past 200 years, 95 per cent of Tasmanian giant kelp beds, and up to 80 per cent of saltmarshes in some estuaries,” she said.

Recent studies have shown that 45 per cent of coastal and marine ecosystems nationally are already experiencing stress from warming temperatures, and these impacts are predicted to worsen with climate change.

“The decline of these ecosystems is crippling the planet and recovering this damage at scale is needed urgently,” Dr Saunders said.

“We need a national strategy that is designed to cascade across state and local levels, and which promotes the co-design of projects, opens funding pipelines, develops fit-for-purpose legislative requirements and actively brings in all levels of communities, organisations and governments.”

Dr Saunders said the report highlights the power of people in shaping restoration goals, with community-led projects found to be often more successful in the long term.

“We need to support and elevate Indigenous-led and co-designed restoration going forward,” she said.

“There is a lot of pride in community, in the people and their land. People drive change – and this is powerful and inspiring.”

The report urges for a national science-based coastal and marine restoration plan that hits environmental and climate change mitigation targets while also providing economic recovery in the form of a skill training pipeline to expand capacity, which includes Indigenous Land and Sea Ranger groups.