2020-09-14 GC Agenda - Item 7 - Attachment 1 - Noosa River Oyster Ecosystem Restoration Project Annual Report No. 1

Project finances
This section details the project finances. Table 3 presents project expenditure across five activity codes:
     1. Reef Building
     2. Hatchery and seedling
     3. Reef integrity and performance assessment
     4. Community engagement, volunteering and media
     5. Project management

To date, a total of 18 percent of the total project budget has been spent. This is significantly less than the 31 percent
anticipated in the first year of a three-year and three-month long project. Considerable savings have been made in
the following areas:
     • Data analysis and restoration suitability mapping – achieved in-house rather than outsourcing.
     • Office space and equipment and sundry costs – project manager is working from home office.
     • Technical assessments – project manager and in kind contributions from experts.
     • Travel, training and conferences – COVID-19 impact.

The following current contracts are in place:
    • Ecological Service Professionals Pty Ltd - Seagrass and habitat mapping contract ($42,592)
    • Resources Australia Ltd - Oyster shell transport contract (up to approx. $15,000 over 2.5 years)

The following Requests for Quotation (RFQ) are under development and will shortly be released for tendering:
    • Detailed intertidal and shallow subtidal bathymetric assessment of proposed restoration sites
    • Engineering advice and certification of restoration designs, configurations and signage

In Year 1, the project team also undertook:
     • Extensive detailed planning, with the development of a Project Management Plan, Risk management plan,
         Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting (MER) plan, Communications plan and development of the Technical
         advisory group.
     • Detailed field assessments to identify candidate restoration sites and analysed those sites with stakeholders
         through one-on-one meetings and site visits.
     • Identified partners for collaboration in aspects such as water quality monitoring.
     • Designed and entered into complex contracts for further detailed habitat and bathymetric assessments and
         shell recycling.
     • Commenced negotiations with Central Queensland University about seagrass restoration in the Noosa River.
     • Engaged a technical intern.
     • Supported three post graduate students wishing to work in beneficial environmental projects in Noosa.

In Year 2 costs are expected to flow towards community outreach, as Shuck Don’t Chuck and oyster gardening projects
coming online, contracts for technical assessments, monitoring and evaluation and the procurement and deployment
of restoration substrates at the first two sites.




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