NORA is delighted to support the UN Decade on Restoration through its ongoing activities. Together, the NORA community and all in the #GenerationRestoration will increase the public understanding and the political will to restore nature where it has been degraded through human activities. While much of the focus on restoration is focused on the land, marine restoration is growing at an incredible pace and with exciting results. The importance and potential of native European oyster restoration is highlighted in our Factsheet, produced especially for the launch of the UN Decade on Restoration. Please download and share widely.
NORA works with its project partners to overcome existing barriers to the conservation, restoration and recovery of the European oyster. Over the past two years alone, the NORA community has achieved so much. Not only in the water, by placing oysters, developing hatcheries, piloting novel approaches, but also by contributing time and expertise to effective knowledge exchange. The NORA Secretariat has had the pleasure of supporting the development of The European Native Oyster Habitat Restoration Handbook, The European Guidelines on Biosecurity in Native Oyster Restoration, and the soon to be published European Native Oyster Habitat Restoration Monitoring Guide, as well as the Forty questions of importance to the policy and practice of native oyster reef restoration in Europe. Site selection guidelines are also currently in development thanks to the energy and support of the NORA community.
NORA and its partners have also collaborated on outreach. Exploring the ways in which oysters and the unique habitat that they build can be shared with the public and used to teach basic biological and mathematical principles in the class room. NORA is delighted to announce further outreach resources being launched for the start of the UN Decade on Restoration, including a series of Wordsearches and informative colouring pages for younger enthusiasts.
The importance and potential of ecological restoration will gain recognition through the UN Decade on Restoration, and we look forward to continuing to support NORA participants, native oyster restoration and marine restoration over the coming years.
For now, we hope that you will share widely with #GenerationRestoration the enthusiasm and potential for restoring native oyster habitats through use of our adapted UN Decade on Restoration logo and oyster reef restoration social media card, which are both available for download here.
#GenerationRestoration Let’s Bring Back Oyster Reefs!