Mission, Role & Strategy

Mission & Objectives

Network Role

Strategy

Strategy and Activities in 2025-26

Since its foundation, NORA has observed that reef restoration practice has roughly developed in two phases, with regional differences. These phases and their regional distribution are depicted below. 

Fig.: Regional distribution of flat oyster reef restoration phases (relative amount of NORA participants per country/region indicated with blue circles)

The phases are:

  • Phase 1: create awareness and start the first projects in which the feasibility of local reef restoration is tested.
  • Phase 2: scale-up restoration, to achieve self-sustaining reefs.

The phases pose their own challenges, requiring specific strategies: 

  • Phase 1:
    • Disseminate awareness of the importance of flat oyster reef restoration.
    • Communicate adequate restoration techniques and requirements to stakeholders (policy makers, NGO’s, communities, enterprise, science) and encourage them to disseminate these.
    • Assist stakeholders in developing pilot projects (site selection, pilot design, breeding population procurement etc.). 
    • Publish/disseminate pilot results and their key role in improving marine nature.
  • Phase 2:
    • Increase publicity and awareness by stakeholders.
    • Assist governments in developing adequate policy guidelines and enabling strategies (project/reef protection, biosecurity regulation, dedicated budgets, etc.) 
    • Develop new techniques adapted to larger scale restoration: production, deployment, monitoring, logistics etc.
    • Assist projects in the application of large-scale techniques.
    • Publish/disseminate project results and their key role in improving marine nature.

NORA’s main policy for the period 2025-26 is to continue its support to the network according to these regional phase differences and the associated strategy requirements, maintaining and extending its cooperation with the sectors mentioned above.

NORA also continues its overall network support, undertaking the following activities:

  • Secretariat:
    • Maintain and extend website and social media communication on all relevant developments.
    • Maintain and extend the expert and project databases. 
    • Continue newsletter (each month): relevant announcements concerning European reef restoration and NORA activities (working groups, conferences etc.).
    • Organize conferences (once per 2 years).
    • Continue the publication of handbooks and guidelines on relevant themes.
    • Support project publicity/result dissemination.  
    • Support working groups in organizing meetings, developing guidelines and preparing publications.
    • Manage communication activities to/with the NORA community. 
    • Advise projects on starting and/or scaling up.
    • Advise governments, NGO’s and enterprises on adequate policy development.
    • Communicate/coordinate with oyster reef restoration initiatives on other continents.
  • Working groups:
    • Stimulate the development of science and technology required for more effective/efficient & larger scale reef restoration.
    • Achieve common standards and comparable data.
    • Assist in outreach initiatives (methods, materials etc.).
    • Organize ad-hoc meetings on specific themes.
  • Board:
    • Oversee all activities so that these remain consistent with the NORA mission statement, as presented in paragraph 2.1. The Board supports these activities where necessary.
    • Seek cooperation with other sectors, especially commercial oyster culture since there are important synergy opportunities with this sector.
    • Engage with potential sponsors and other income sources and maintain the balance between incomes and expenditures in order to establish a sound financial basis for the organization. NORA produces an annual financial report, supervised by the Board.