The special issue can be accessed at onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/10990755/2020/30/11
In little more than six weeks the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restorationwill launch, bringing a sharp focus on ecosystem restoration and ‘mainstreaming’ it into policy and planning. Published this week is a landmark Special Issue of Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, a scientific journal contributing more to the knowledge of how to restore native European oyster habitat than any publication before. NORA is honoured to have had the opportunity to work with Aquatic Conservation to produce this Special Issue and are very grateful for the support and hard work that the Aquatic Conservation editorial team put into making this happen.
The work originates from Edinburgh’s global meeting of the Native Oyster Restoration Alliance (NORA), hosted by a partnership between The Glenmorangie Company, Heriot-Watt University, The Marine Conservation Society, Nature Scot and Scottish Enterprise. Marine scientists, conservationists, administrators and oyster producers from across Europe came together to Unlock the blueprint for oyster restoration for native oyster reef restoration – involving at least 15 European countries. Plans across Europe will see millions of native oysters (Ostrea edulis) returned to the seas around France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, UK and Spain, where they were wiped out by overfishing as much as a century ago.
The Special Issue is packed full of the latest research findings from the NORA community. Thank you to all the NORA 2 conference organisers and sponsors for creating the opportunity for this information to come together and such an array of platforms over which to disseminate the findings. The reseach presented here is a leap forward in our understanding of native oyster restoration in Europe.