The NORA site selection working group has been working with University of Edinburgh Master’s student, Anna Hughes, for over a year to develop a comprehensive Site Selection Checklist for European native oyster restoration. Thanks to the collaboration and expert contributions of the 24 scientists and restoration practitioners involved, the research project has now been summarized into an easy-to-use simple checklist of factors that should be considered in European native oyster habitat restoration site selection.
The full checklist provides an overview of which factors were considered Essential or Desirable to consider in native oyster habitat restoration site selection. The factors are organized into themes; threats, project logistics, abiotic factors, biotic factors and socioeconomic factors to allow easier navigation of the 60 factors listed. A short introduction to each factor is also provided.
The Site Selection Checklist was arrived at via an expert consultation, and the Site Selection Working Group are currently working on completing the manuscript for submission to a peer-reviewed journal, so we look forward to providing a further update in the near future.