Plenary 5

Target 2 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) calls for 30% of degraded ecosystems to be under effective restoration by 2030. If this obligation is interpreted in the spirit of the GBF, it demands rapid upscaling of restoration efforts across the globe. However achieving this rapid upscaling in the marine and coastal context will be challenging unless significant effort is made to dismantle the key obstacles to restoration. In a 2022 survey of Australian restoration practitioners and regulators, funding and legal frameworks were identified as the two main barriers to upscaling marine and coastal restoration (Saunders et al). This presentation will unpack the legal barriers to marine and coastal restoration, and highlight some enablers, solutions, and paths towards marine and coastal restoration at scale.