Speed Presentation 2024 Australian Marine Sciences Association Annual Meeting combined with NZMSS

Developing a monitoring framework for social and economic services of marine habitat restoration: Project Restore (#97)

Kate M Barclay 1 , Melanie J Bishop 2 3 , David J Booth 3 4 , Katherine A Dafforn 2 3 , Martina Doblin 3 4 , Francisco Martinez-Baena 2 3 , Ezequiel M Marzinelli 2 3 , Mariana Mayer-Pinto 3 5 , Alistair McIlgorm 6 , Rachel Nichols 6 , Carla D Sbrocchi 1 , Adriana Vergés 3 5
  1. Climate Society Environment Research Centre (C-SERC), University of Technology Sydney, Broadway, NSW, Australia
  2. School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney
  3. Sydney Institute of Marine Sciences (SIMS), Sydney, NSW
  4. School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Broadway, NSW, Australia
  5. School of Biological Earth and Environmental Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW
  6. Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS), University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW

Monitoring the social and economic services provided by ecological restoration activities within urban seascapes is crucial to understand the human dimensions of ecological restoration, which are often not evaluated. Evidence about social and economic benefits from nature restoration may be used to leverage community support and stewardship of areas under restoration, for example, by reducing activities such as anchoring on vulnerable habitats, which is fundamental for ecosystem recovery, and can also enable further funding opportunities. Here, we present a work-in-progress development of a social and economic monitoring framework for Project Restore, a multi habitat marine restoration approach in Sydney Harbour, in collaboration with social scientists, economists and marine ecologists. We draw on a body of work that has developed since the 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment on understanding human wellbeing benefits from ecosystems. We conducted a participatory process with stakeholders to refine that framework for the context of Sydney Harbour and the Project Restore initiatives, and to inform data collection and analysis. This presentation will include findings from the first round of analysis from baseline data collection in April-May 2024.