Title: Inshore Resilience
Duration:2025– 2028
Funding: The $2.1m Inshore Resilience project is part of the NRM Expansion Package, funded by the Queensland Government.
A holistic approach to Reef interventions
The health of the Great Barrier Reef is deeply tied to the health of coastal habitats, such as mangroves and seagrass. That’s why the Inshore Resilience project doesn’t look at the reef, seagrass and mangrove components individually, but considers the broader implications of gaining local skills, knowledge and experience working across the whole zone.
The Great Barrier Reef is still full of life and resilient, but it faces ongoing and compounding challenges from climate and other environmental threats. The future health and resilience of the Reef will depend on large-scale interventions to both reduce threats and improve condition.
Terrestrial restoration has been widespread in Australia for over 50 years, with high levels of confidence in the methods and success rates, and millions of hectares of forests restored nationally. Interventions in the marine space however are much newer, and we are still learning rapidly about how best to work in these dynamic environments.
Reef Catchments is the only NRM organisation with a Great Barrier Reef Team. We are working on the cutting edge of coastal and marine restoration, partnering with research organisations to drive continuous learning and improvement.
Public events are always advertised through the Reef Catchments Facebook page and monthly Natural State eNewsletter. Ensure you are following to keep up to date on opportunities to work alongside us.
This project is funded by Queensland Government’s Natural Resource Management Expansion Program.
The Inshore Resilience project brings together three subcomponents that together span the coastal zone:
Reef Catchments delivers Boats4Corals as part of the broader Inshore Resilience project. This initiative uses larval re-seeding to increase hard coral recruitment while building the regional skills needed for large-scale reef restoration.
As a subcomponent of the Inshore Resilience project, Reef Catchments is partnering with CQUniversity to restore Zostera muelleri seagrass in Pioneer Bay. By refining “seed ball” techniques and trialling new species outplanting, we are improving coastal connectivity and reef resilience.
As a subcomponent of the Inshore Resilience project, Reef Catchments is delivering on-ground works to protect high-priority mangrove and saltmarsh sites. By reducing threats like weeds and illegal vehicle access, we are enhancing the resilience of these critical coastal habitats.
