2022-10-24 General Committee Meeting- Item 7 - Attachment 1 - Noosa Oyster Ecosystem Restoration Project - Final Report (1)

Monitoring, evaluation, and reporting
Framework

The project’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting (MER) Plan details a set of environmental, social and economic objectives,
targets and goals, which are set across TNC Australia’s shellfish restoration projects. The monitoring system includes
establishing and using a reference ecosystem, or reference model, as a predefined ecological target for the shellfish
ecosystem being restored.

See Annex 24

Reporting on progress with the restoration work includes both reporting of trends towards an ecological trajectory and
standard project inputs and outputs (e.g., oysters deployed, m2 of habitat provided). The MER Plan includes information on
performance metrics, monitoring methods, analyses, reporting, timeframes, and roles and responsibilities for collecting and
analysing data.

The MER Plan follows a standard ‘best practice’ approach to monitoring, evaluation and reporting, which is applied across all
TNC Australia’s shellfish restoration projects. TNC has adopted the MER principles of the international Society for Ecological
Restoration (SER), the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation (OSPC) and best practice methods for shellfish
ecosystem restoration. By monitoring a common set of ecological indicators, we will also be able to compare these results
with other restoration projects in Australia and globally.

MER schedule

The following is the MER schedule for the restoration phase of the project:

    •    Baseline monitoring – July/August 2022

    •    Post construction monitoring - Autumn 2023

    •    Spring marine plant and shellfish rapid assessment - Spring 2023

    •    Annual ecological and shoreline monitoring - Autumn 2024 - then annually until 2027

    •    Restoration performance technical review – 2027

    •    Additional annual monitoring – if required by agencies (up to 2030)

Baseline monitoring

In July and August 2022, independent consultants, Ecological Service Professionals (ESP) undertook baseline ecological, and
shoreline monitoring and assessments for the four restoration sites. Ecological monitoring metrics at each site included:

•   Shellfish
•   Other macro-invertebrates
•   Fish assemblages
•   Marine plants (visual observations of condition and spatial variations only)
•   Seabed condition

ESP’s work also included:
•   Assessment of the response of estuarine organisms to the reintroduction of the oyster reefs into the estuary, including
    establishment of control locations,

•   Assessment of the distribution of benthic habitats adjacent to the reef areas, and,
                                                                                                                           63