The $20 million Reef Builder partnership between The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Australian Government has successfully restored important shellfish reefs at 13 project areas across southern Australia.
Reef Builder was delivered between 2021 and 2023. The program used more than 98 tonnes of recycled shells to restore over 40 hectares of lost shellfish reefs across 13 local communities.
These projects spanned Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales and Queensland.
Around 30 million native shellfish were seeded onto Reef Builder projects. This included:
- almost 21 million Australian Flat Oysters
- 590,000 Sydney Rock Oysters
- almost 8 million Blue Mussels.
Oysters and mussels are ecosystem engineers. They settle onto each other to form hard reef structures, similar to coral reefs.
Shellfish reefs are natural solutions to some of our greatest conservation challenges. They improve coastal water quality, boost fish stocks and provide homes for a diverse range of sea life.
They also support local communities, generate regional employment, and protect Australia’s coastal communities and shorelines from coastal erosion.
Reef Builder has demonstrated that the restoration of shellfish reefs at a national scale is possible. It also demonstrates that the flow on benefits to people and nature are significant.
