How Adelaide Plains Council’s Blue Carbon Project is restoring wetlands and reimagining climate leadership.

On the shores near Webb Beach, something amazing is happening.

Each year, around 15,000 migratory shorebirds land within the Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary National Park. They arrive from as far as Siberia and East Asia, resting and feeding in South Australia’s coastal wetlands before beginning the long journey back to their breeding grounds.

For generations, these wetlands have been vital. But like many coastal systems across Australia, they have also been altered; isolated by levee banks, reshaped by agriculture, and slowly degraded over time.

Now, thanks to the Blue Carbon Project, led by The Nature Conservancy in partnership with Adelaide Plains Council and a coalition of collaborators, those wetlands are breathing again.

And in doing so, they’re capturing carbon, rebuilding biodiversity, and creating new economic opportunities for the region.

Recognised with the 2025 Excellence in Environmental Leadership and Sustainability Award, the project demonstrates what’s possible when local government leads boldly on climate action, grounded in community and partnership.

Restoring nature’s original climate solution

The inspiration for the project was simple but profound: coastal ecosystems are not just habitats, they are natural climate solutions.

Mangroves, saltmarsh and seagrass - known collectively as “blue carbon” ecosystems - store vast amounts of carbon in their sediments, often for thousands of years. When wetlands are cut off from tidal flow, that system breaks down.

The Blue Carbon Project set out to change that.

By installing culverts through historic levee banks, the project reconnected tidal flows into previously isolated sabkha wetlands. The return of intertidal water has allowed native vegetation to regenerate, wildlife to return, and natural ecological processes to resume.

Watching that first tidal exchange flow back into the wetlands was, in the words of the project team, a proud and defining moment.

“It was collaboration translating into real, on-ground change.”

Environmental leadership at scale

What makes this initiative particularly significant is its scale and ambition. Spanning restoration and enhancement activities across approximately 12,400 hectares, it is only the second blue carbon project registered in Australia under the Clean Energy Regulator framework.

Environmental outcomes have already been substantial:

• Reconnection of tidal infrastructure near Webb Beach
• Large-scale revegetation using Council nursery stock supported by volunteers
• Improved weed management integrated into Biodiversity Management Plans
• Long-term monitoring of vegetation, invertebrates, reptiles and birdlife
• Increased habitat for migratory shorebirds and marine species

Beyond biodiversity, the project has significantly increased carbon sequestration capacity - positioning Adelaide Plains as a leader in place-based climate action.

Community, culture and economic resilience

This is not just an environmental story - it’s a community one.

Through the project, awareness of blue carbon and coastal resilience has grown across the region. Birdwatching tourism has increased. Private landholders and local volunteers have played active roles. The Two Wells Community Nursery has supported revegetation works. And conversations around future blue carbon credit pathways are opening alternative income opportunities for landholders.

Traditional Owners, the Kaurna People, have been integral partners, ensuring cultural knowledge is embedded alongside scientific research. Academic institutions, including Flinders University and the University of Adelaide, have contributed expertise. Environmental groups such as Birds SA and BirdLife Australia have strengthened ecological monitoring.

Securing $2.9 million in Australian Government funding has further cemented the project’s long-term sustainability.

It is a model built not on isolated action, but on shared stewardship.

Recognition that strengthens momentum

For Adelaide Plains Council and its partners, winning the award affirms years of technical work, collaboration and persistence.

It reinforces that councils - often closest to the land and community - are uniquely positioned to lead climate solutions that deliver environmental, social and economic outcomes simultaneously.

For the local community, it builds pride in protecting a globally significant ecological asset. For partners and Traditional Owners, it recognises the strength of working collectively toward a shared future.

What comes next?

The tides have returned - but the work continues.

Next steps include ongoing biodiversity and carbon monitoring, exploring further tidal reconnection opportunities, developing blue carbon credit pathways, and creating potential Indigenous employment and youth justice traineeship opportunities linked to restoration works.

The framework developed through this project is now being shared nationally and internationally, offering a replicable model for coastal restoration and climate leadership.

As the team reflects: local government can lead nationally significant climate solutions.

And at Webb Beach, with migratory birds' overhead and tidal waters once again flowing freely, that leadership is visible in every ripple.

Thank you to our partner Green Industries SA for sponsoring the Environmental Leadership and Sustainability Award.

GIF: Features a variety of images from the Blue Carbon Project, and those representing the project at the 2025 LG Professionals SA Leadership Excellence Awards Gala Dinner.