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The condition of marine natural resources and the services they deliver remain at risk from a long history of human use and modification including large-scale clearing of vegetation, the introduction of marine pests, land-based pests, weeds and animals, changes in water quality and flows, impacts on marine threatened and endangered protected species through fishing and other marine activities, changes to fire regimes and a changing climate.

Healthy coastal habitats like seagrass meadows, coastal saltmarsh, kelp forests, coral and shellfish reefs, and mangrove forests (‘blue infrastructure’) are essential to the economic and social well-being of coastal communities. These habitats drive coastal productivity supporting our fisheries and other industries associated with recreation in marine environments, improve water quality, sequester carbon, protect shorelines from erosion, and support thriving biodiversity, including threatened species. These habitats are under pressure from coastal development, climate change, pollution, invasive species and other anthropogenic pressures, which have led to drastic declines in many of our important marine and coastal habitats.

There is a general consensus that there are two paths to conserve critical habitats; habitats can either be protected from extractive or destructive human influences (e.g. through national parks, marine reserves, fishery closures, gear restrictions or riparian conservation) and/or actively rehabilitated towards a preferred healthy state (i.e. repair). Early environmental conservation was primarily focused on the former of these methods, with the establishment of national parks and conservation areas globally, and sector-based management of remaining pressures. However, despite these intensive interventions, many habitats have continued to decline over the past half-century. There is increasing recognition that protection by itself is no longer sufficient and interest and demand for rehabilitation in the form of interventions and restoration has been growing. Repair is now seen as a key element in achieving conservation and environmental management goals internationally.

The project aims to better integrate academic, industry and practitioners expertise to improve the health and productivity of marine habitats. It is expected that great CoP will also be responsive to industry needs, promote collaboration in research & on-ground projects, and encourage the development of applied outputs. The methods to achieve this are evolving.

CoP across Australia are a means for topic experts and practitioners to gather, share and learn what participants are working on individually. Collectively sharing this knowledge helps focus relevant monitoring and research of marine assets and guides best practice on-ground environmental interventions. This activates world-class best practice science to maximise the impact of available management resource interventions. CoP knowledge transfer plays an increasingly important role for Australia as the loss of marine biodiversity and climate change occurs.

Marine assets support the productivity and health of fishing and aquaculture professional businesses, therefore it is vital that environmental interventions make the most of limited resources. This work looks to further the cycle of discussion. To enhance engagement between research, policy and Landcare practitioner.