As industry leaders meet in Sydney for the inaugural Global Nature Positive Summit, Australia's key waterway restoration charity, OzFish, says that empowering all people in Australia to "pitch in" with restoring our natural environments is key to a nature positive future.
OzFish CEO Cassie Price said, "We believe the most complex challenges can be solved when people come together – and get to work. We know that Aussies love the ocean, and their rivers and creeks, and are very connected to them. Governments must work together, with business, to give all people the tools and opportunities to pitch in and improve the waterways they love."
The Global Nature Positive Summit, held in Sydney this week, aims to boost private sector investment in environmental restoration and protection. OzFish Founder Craig Copeland spoke at the summit on ecosystems regeneration.
OzFish are calling for more focus on restoration of the thousands of hectares of lost – and still declining – native fish habitats across Australia.
Ms. Price said, "We need to see all levels of government, and private business, support community-based organisations to help achieve the scale of restoration needed for truly nature-positive results in Australia. The sheer scale of the task ahead to reverse the losses of fish habitat over the past 120 years is only one that can be achieved by including every Australian."
OzFish currently receives sponsorship from major partner, BCF, and fishing industry organisations to restore fish habitats, and encourages other companies to invest in community conservation across Australia.
"We're providing opportunities for 4.5 million recreational fishers in Australia to make a positive impact on their local waterways and fish populations. Every pair of hands, every action someone takes, contributes towards a collective step in the right direction."
Last year, OzFish supported fishers and other volunteers to contribute 40,000 hours into improving Australia's waterways. This included removing 13 tonnes of rubbish from Australia's beaches and rivers, regenerating 6.7 hectares of seagrass meadow and using 208 tonnes of shell diverted from landfill to help restore over 29 hectares of shellfish reef.
The Restoration Decade Alliance (RDA), of which OzFish is a member, recently released a position statement warning that Australia has only six years left to restore ecosystems, prevent biodiversity collapse and catastrophic climate change.
