The GSR Restoration Program

Our mission is to restore Australia's Great Southern Reef (GSR)

The Great Southern Reef

The GSR runs along the southern Australian coast from Kalbarri (North of Geralton) in the  west to K’Gari (Frazer Island) in the east.  It consists of approximately 220 "seascapes" spread over about 8,000km.  Each seascape represents a unique ecosystem of geography (rivers, bays and/or estuaries), history, biology, and demographics.  Flora and fauna move between these seascapes as part of an overall ecosystem.  A map of the reef is shown on the right thanks to The Coversation.

All the seascapes share a common set of challenges.  Polution, historic removal of oyster reefs, over fishing, and global warming are causing species loss and a range of broader stresses.  

These challenges can be addressed through restoration of new oyster reefs, kelp and seagrass beds; mangroves and saltmarsh.  Restoration is a cost effective way to generate cleaner water, grow more fish and biodiversity, and inprove coastal resiliance.  

Restoration to date

Since 2014, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and a range of other organisations, have been working to restore the GSR.  Over the past decade, TNC has completed three stages of restoration:

  1. 2014-2016 - Getting Started - An initial experiment was conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of Angassi oyster reef restoration.  

  2. 2016-2020 - National expansion - TNC conducted a range of projects in different states to ensure that Oyster Reefs could be restored at different sites along the GSR. 

  3. 2020-2023 - Reefbuilder - in 2020, the federal government announced a $20 million partnership between the Australian Government and TNC, to restore shellfish reef habitat in at least 11 coastal communities around Australia.

Stage 4 of the GSR restoration program?

The first three stages of restoration have demonstrated the ability to restore portions of the GSR.  Important work has been done to restore oyster reefs, mangroves, kelp, and seagrass. Looking forward, the next challenge is broad scale restoration of the reef.  This is a significant national undertaking that will require collaboration and funding at the federal, state, and local levels.   

GSR.Org.au has been created because the scale of the challenge extends beyond the capabilities of any one organisation.  It works to support and integrate the various organisations involved in GSR restoration.