U.S. AMBASSADOR CAROLINE KENNEDY VISITS MANLY
Ambassador Caroline Kennedy visited Manly on Monday to inspect the Living Sea Walls project at the Fairy Bower Pool and learn about the world leading harbour and marine restoration project.
“It’s fantastic to welcome U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy to visit Living Sea Walls and understand the world leading underwater conservation work we’re doing in Manly,” Mr Griffin said.
Mr Griffin recently announced the largest harbour restoration project in the world to reforest and restore marine habitats for penguins, seals, seahorses and turtles in Sydney Harbour.
The project will help to restore biodiversity in Sydney Harbour, improve water quality and increase carbon sequestration.
Seaweeds such as Crayweed provide critical habitat and food for marine life. They also act as underwater forests, capturing carbon and creating oxygen.
However, Crayweed completely disappeared from the Sydney metropolitan region from Palm Beach to Cronulla in the 1980s due to pollution and has never returned.
The Living Seawalls are part of the NSW Government’s $9.1 million Seabirds to Seascapes program recently announced by Mr Griffin. It includes three elements:
- Restoring Sydney Harbour as an ecosystem and marine habitat by installing hundreds of Living Seawalls, and replanting seagrass meadows and kelp forests
- Supporting the future of Little Penguins in NSW by conducting the first ever statewide Little Penguin census to better understand their population size and how they’re responding to threats such as climate change
- Helping Fur Seals thrive as a species by conducting a Seal Survey to identify their preferred habitat, breeding grounds, diet and key threats.
The initiative is being delivered in partnership with experts from the Sydney Institute of Marine Science (SIMS), Taronga Conservation Society Australia and NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.
Ambassador Caroline Kennedy commenced her role as the U.S. Ambassador to Australia in July this year.