Post by NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research

🪸 🐟 How do you restore reefs in the North Sea at a scale that can truly make a difference? That is the challenge at the heart of ReefCreate-XL (Dutch: RifherstelXL), a new four-year initiative bringing together scientists, offshore companies, governments and nature organisations to develop and test reef structures that can help kickstart underwater life. 🌳 🍐 From oyster reefs to innovative "treereefs" made from discarded fruit trees, the project aims to move reef restoration from small-scale pilots to large-scale implementation in the open North Sea. In 2026, the focus is on designing and refining reef structures. The first large-scale pilots will follow at the Frisian Front, where researchers will monitor how these reefs support biodiversity and ecosystem recovery. 👉 Read more on the NIOZ website: https://lnkd.in/eak5YS-B ReefCreate-XL is led by Tjeerd Bouma of NIOZ Estuarine and Delta Systems department and carried out together with Wageningen Marine Research, Waardenburg Ecology, Van Oord Ocean Health, EcoShape, The Rich North Sea, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Delft University of Technology, Stichting Zeeschelp, ARK Rewilding Nederland and Doggerland Foundation , with funding from @Nature Regeneration North Sea - supported by the European Union's NextGenerationEU programme and the Dutch Ministry of 'Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature' (LVVN). #NorthSea #Biodiversity #ReefRestoration #MarineScience #NatureRestoration

Video Content