Ridge to Reef Restoration is integrated ecosystem restoration co-designed with the Traditional Owners to achieve aspirations for Their Land and Sea Country and Their People. The partnership focuses on protecting cultural values, capacity building and ecological restoration across terrestrial, coastal and marine ecosystems. The Traditional Owners build technical skills, engage their community, practice leadership and project management, and connect to Country while sharing cross-cultural learnings. Management actions are implemented at catchment scale with stakeholder collaboration to achieve holistic outcomes. Together, we seek to create healthy ecosystems and improve water quality through active terrestrial, mangrove, seagrass, and reef restoration that integrates Traditional Knowledge.
The Ridge to Reef Alliance delivered Koinmerburra Ridge to Reef Restoration Project Phase 1, co-led by the Koinjmal People. We engaged stakeholders and conducted baseline assessments to understand cultural and ecological priorities, then developed a 5-Year Implementation Plan. Along the way, technical experts increased capacity of the Traditional Owner’s to continue caring for Their Country into the future. This project demonstrates world-class leadership in ecosystem restoration for Healthy People and Healthy Country. Our learnings can be applied to Land and Sea Country Managers and Traditional Owner groups to implement Ridge to Reef Restoration Projects on Their Country.