NORA 1 Conference 2017

NORA the Native Oyster Restoration Alliance founded for the conservation of the European flat oyster – Experts developed common European restoration strategies.

The Native Oyster Restoration Alliance (NORA) has been launched in November 2017. NORA is a European network aiming at reinforcement and restoration of the nowadays very rare and endangered native European flat oyster (Ostrea edulis). Network members are representatives of nature conservation agencies, science, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as oyster farmers. NORA was established during the first international workshop on oyster restoration initiated by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) and the Alfred-Wegener Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). It was held in Berlin from first to third November 2017, in order to present successful restoration projects and to exchange experiences. The meeting was attended by 65 experts from 10 European countries and the US. For the first time, the experts developed and agreed on common European restoration strategies and recommendations, e.g. about production of seed-oysters, monitoring, genetic variability, site selection.

The long-term goals of the alliance are to re-establish the native European flat oyster as a former key species in the North Sea and adjacent European seas as well as to extensively restore healthy species-rich oyster reef structures.

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