Restoration
Restoring Marine Habitats
The science, people and practical work helping our underwater forests, reefs and meadows recover.
supporting recovery
helping habitats recover
Restoration starts with understanding what has been lost, and what is stopping it from coming back.
Across the Great Southern Reef, researchers, local communities and conservation organisations are testing ways to rebuild damaged marine habitats. The work ranges from growing young kelp to replanting seagrass and creating places for native oysters to settle.
Protecting healthy habitats and addressing the pressures behind their decline remain essential. Restoration adds another tool where natural recovery needs help.
01 reduce the pressures
Understand the causes of habitat loss and improve conditions for recovery.
02 rebuild the habitat
Match the restoration method to the species, site and local environment.
03 Follow the recovery
Track survival, growth and reproduction to learn what lasts.
Restoration in practice • seaweeds
Rebuilding underwater forests
From nursery-grown kelp to transplanted adult seaweeds, different forests need different approaches.
Golden Kelp
PORT PHILLIP BAY • VICTORIA
In Port Phillip Bay, restoration combines managing overabundant sea urchins with growing and replanting golden kelp. Researchers cultivate young kelp on twine and gravel before placing it on selected reefs.
Monitoring follows the kelp’s survival and reproduction, and the return of other seaweeds.
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At Queenscliff, researchers maintain living cultures of golden kelp collected along Victoria’s coast, helping preserve genetic diversity and providing material that can be grown for future restoration.
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Small stones are seeded with microscopic kelp and grown in controlled conditions before being placed on suitable reefs. Trials test whether the young kelp survives, attaches to the reef and establishes lasting habitat.
Giant kelp
TASMANIA
Warming seas and changing ocean conditions have transformed Tasmania’s giant kelp forests. Scientists are growing kelp from remaining wild populations and replanting selected reefs.
Research includes testing warmer-water tolerance and improving conditions for recovery. The long-term challenge is to establish forests that can persist as the ocean changes.
Sydney • New South Wales
operation crayweed
Fertile adult crayweed is attached to reefs where the seaweed disappeared, giving its offspring a chance to settle on the surrounding rock. Researchers monitor new generations to understand where forests are establishing and where further planting is needed.
Restoration in practice • shellfish
a foundation for living reefs
Native oysters need somewhere to settle. Rebuilding that foundation is a first step towards restoring the habitat they create.
Researchers, Eyrelab and community volunteers are rebuilding habitat for native oysters. Recycled shell provides surfaces where young oysters can settle, helping rebuild the reef structures lost through historical harvesting and dredging.
Bringing back native oyster reefs
COFFIN BAY • SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Ceramic forms inspired by razorfish shells offer a new surface for native oyster larvae. Artist Jane Bamford and the Kangaroo Island Landscape Board have brought craft and ecology together to test an unusual approach to rebuilding oyster habitat.
Art meets oyster restoration
KANGAROO ISLAND • SOUTH AUSTRALIA
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