Amended Noosa Project Restoration Plan V12_5

The works proposed in this submission are intended to restore 3,600m2 of oyster beds in phase 1 of
the project. That equates to between 1.7 and 9 percent of the original area expected to have been
covered by oyster beds in the Noosa River estuary.

Restoration Benefits

The benefits of restoring rock oyster ecosystems to the Noosa River estuary are extensive. Oysters are
ecosystem engineer species capable of improving ecosystem function and providing habitat for other
organisms4. Oyster ecosystems added extensive ‘natural infrastructure’ to the estuary and provided the
estuary with a range of environmental benefits.

These benefits include:
   • Providing complex habitats for marine species (the diverse habitats typically consist of fish,
       invertebrates, corals, ascidians, lace corals, encrusting sponges and algae).
   • Filtering water and removing suspended sediment and pollution.
   • Processing nutrients; providing bank stabilization and protection.
   • Providing complex vertical and horizontal living spaces, and feeding grounds, for a multitude of
       intertidal and marine creatures.
   • Enhancing marine and coastal lifestyle and tourism activities such as fishing, diving and bird
       watching.

The recognition of the significant contribution of oyster ecosystems led to their recognition as an
important wetland habitat type in the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (The
Ramsar Convention – habitat type ‘Ga’)5.

1.4 Restoration approach

The restoration approach follows the eight principles for ecological restoration established by the
international Society of Ecological Restoration (SER)6, which have been newly interpreted for shellfish
restoration7. The project approach is also guided by best-practice ecological restoration and shellfish
restoration monitoring guidelines, including the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation8, the




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  Jonathan H. Grabowski, Robert D. Brumbaugh, Robert F. Conrad, Andrew G. Keeler, James J. Opaluch, Charles H. Peterson, Michael F.
Piehler, Sean P. Powers, Ashley R. Smyth, Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Services Provided by Oyster Reefs, BioScience, Volume 62, Issue
10, October 2012, Pages 900–909, https://doi.org/10.1525/bio.2012.62.10.10

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  Kasoar, T., zu Ermgassen, P.S.E., Carranza, A., Hancock, B., Spalding, M., 2015. New opportunities for conservation of a threatened
biogenic habitat: a worldwide assessment of knowledge on bivalve-reef representation in marine and coastal Ramsar Sites. Mar. Freshw.
Res. 66, 981e988.

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 Gann GD, McDonald T, Walder B, Aronson J, Nelson CR, Jonson J, Hallett JG, Eisenberg C, Guariguata MR, Liu J, Hua F, Echeverría C,
Gonzales E, Shaw N, Decleer K, Dixon KW (2019) International principles and standards for the practice of ecological restoration. Second
edition. Restoration Ecology 27(S1): S1–S46

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 Fitzsimons, J., Branigan, S., Brumbaugh, R.D., McDonald, T. and zu Ermgassen, P.S.E. (eds) (2019). Restoration Guidelines for Shellfish
Reefs. The Nature Conservancy, Arlington VA, USA.

8
 Conservation Measures Partnership (2013) Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation Version 3.0, accessed online via http://cmp-
openstandards.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/CMP-OS-V3-0-Final.pdf
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