Workshop on Model Codes for Marine and Coastal Restoration

The need to upscale ecological restoration has become prominent in policy at the international, national and Australian state levels. Under the Global Biodiversity Framework, countries including Australia have agreed to have 30% of degraded terrestrial, inland water, coastal and marine ecosystems under effective restoration by 2030. The Australian government is currently updating its Strategy for Nature, with restoration one of its priority areas. Additionally, the passage of the Nature Repair Act 2023 (Cth) has increased the potential for private sector investment into restoration.

However, a gap exists between this policy ambition, and the ability to do restoration – particularly in the marine and coastal space. It is becoming well known that the legal permitting process in particular is a major barrier to restoration, due to the following problems:

• There are often no specific restoration permitting pathways, and it is not clear to proponents and to assessing authorities which permits are needed;

• Proponents may need to seek multiple permits, which is time-consuming and costly;

• Much restoration is funded by government grants with a limited timeframe to delivery, and proponents may not be able to even obtain permits within that timeframe.

A potential solution to this problem is for State governments to develop restoration codes to sit within existing legislative frameworks. These codes would allow for stated lower-risk projects to proceed without permits, provided that code requirements are met. However, there is not yet a shared understanding of what constitutes ‘lower-risk’ in this context.

The purpose of this workshop is to build on recent progress and momentum in this space, by bringing together government decision-makers, restoration practitioners and scientists, to reflect on risk in restoration, with a view to informing future restoration codes. The focus will be on reintroduction of tidal flow and oyster reef restoration.

Registration

Photography

Please note, there may be images and video content captured at this event. The material may be used for domestic and international marketing purposes and be displayed on our website, social media, in printed and electronic publications. If you do not wish to be photographed, please make yourself known to the staff at registration.