Restoring Fish Habitat and Waterway Health

Restoring New South Wales’ (NSW) waterways is essential to preserving fish habitats, supporting biodiversity, and fostering sustainable communities.

The Issue

NSW waterways are facing significant ecological challenges, with declining fish populations, degraded riverbanks, and diminishing in-stream habitat impacting aquatic ecosystems and recreational fishing.

Restoring these habitats is essential to protect biodiversity, improve water quality, and support fish populations. This challenge is particularly pressing as waterways across the state are subject to pollution, erosion, and habitat loss. There is a critical need to mobilise communities and empower stakeholders to work together to revitalise river ecosystems and promote sustainable fishing practices, safeguarding NSW’s natural resources for future generations.

The Solution

To tackle these challenges, Landcare NSW and OzFish have joined forces to initiate 100 partnership projects across the state, empowering grassroots Landcare groups to collaborate with recreational fishers on local fish habitat restoration projects.

These projects bring together diverse community members to actively participate in restoring riverbanks, improving waterway health, and enhancing fish habitats through strategic actions.

By combining the passion of recreational fishers with the experience of Landcare members, the projects foster a sense of shared responsibility and collective impact.

This partnership model encourages hands-on involvement and fosters community pride, resulting in stronger, healthier waterways and thriving fish habitats across NSW.

The Impact

These projects have led to the planting of tens of thousands of native trees, hundreds of in-stream habitats, and thousands of volunteers committed to waterway restoration. This large-scale effort strengthens community connections, promotes ecological sustainability, and enhances stewardship of NSW’s waterways.

Learnings

A key takeaway is the strong connection recreational fishers have to their waterways and the effectives of collaboration with Landcare NSW in driving ecological restoration. This partnership model demonstrates empowered communities can significantly impact environmental conservation.

– Ryan Lungu, Program Manager, OzFish Unlimited

This initiative made possible by the NSW Landcare Enabling Program, a collaboration between Local Land Services and Landcare NSW supported by the NSW Government.