2020-09-14 GC Agenda - Item 7 - Attachment 2 - Independent Scientific Review of Monitoring and Evaluation Plan

project engage someone with appropriate skills to further develop this component of the MER Plan. If that
work proceeds it should complement the SEQ Report Card measures of satisfaction and beneficial use of
the Noosa River.
Recommendation 4. Collect, maintain and store provenance records of any species introduced to the site.
It is good practice for the provenance records of any species introduced to the site to be kept, if oyster spat
or mature oysters are translocated from elsewhere (directly or via a nursery). Refer to the National
standards for the practice of ecological restoration in Australia (Standards Reference Group SERA, 2018, p.
22).
Recommendation 5. Evaluate the partnership and share learnings
The Partnership agreement aspires to demonstrate a ‘leading example’ of a collaborative alliance that
‘achieves superior outcomes’. The Project Plan, through regular reporting cycles, includes processes for
reflecting on the implementation of the oyster restoration project.
In addition to the oyster restoration project, Objective A5 within the Project Plan includes a range of actions
to support Noosa Council, promote the project and develop conservation plans. A5 is not currently
considered within the MER Plan (which is focussed on the oyster restoration) but actions will be reported
(Table 1).
As well as learning about oyster restoration, the project should also evaluate, reflect, learn and share about
the partnership arrangements – including the activities described in Objective A5, but also more broadly, to
assess and reflect on the partnering process and outcomes. We recommend that the partners contract a
third party to facilitate a partnership evaluation near the end of the current project (July 2022). Findings
should inform future partnering arrangements between Noosa Council and TNC, and may also be helpful to
other organisations considering similar arrangements.



    5.2 Recommendations for long-term monitoring of the stated Goals and
        Objectives of the project, beyond the end of the current agreement term on
        30 September 2022.
Monitoring of project legacy (impacts) should be addressed by incorporating recommendations for ongoing
monitoring as part of the final project report, when the performance of the current project and it’s MER are
known and future resources and capability understood (refer Recommendation 2 above). Monitoring
efforts beyond the current three-year project will depend upon:
     The success of the project (whether ecological and other targets have been met);
     The likely trajectory of ecological measures beyond that time (whether restored beds are still
         developing, stabilised or at risk);
     Whether additional oyster restoration sites or relevant estuarine activities are planned or ongoing;
     Whether the partnership with TNC is expected to continue; and
     The availability of scientific and community monitoring capacity and resources.
Recommendation 2 above suggests that the final report include a set of recommendations for longer-term
monitoring. Bagget et al. (2014, 2015) recommend a set of four oyster reef metrics three water quality
variables for all oyster restoration projects. Monitoring objectives will be determined by the factors above,
however. TNC, as the project manager, will be best placed to make those recommendations at that time,
using the information, models and other decision support tools from the Noosa project and other TNC
restoration projects.




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