By ANNA USHER

Mosman’s foreshore has a new feature designed to give local marine life a fighting chance.

This week, “Living Boulders” were lowered into place at Spit West Reserve, creating vital habitat for snails, small fish and other organisms along the rocky shoreline. The project builds on the success of Mosman’s Living Seawalls installation at Ellery Park last year, which was hailed as a biodiversity boost for our busy harbour.

The idea is simple: replicate natural rockpools that once lined the harbour but were lost when the shoreline was artificially constructed. The new boulders provide refuge from predators and protection from drying out at low tide – both critical for helping marine species thrive in an urbanised environment.

It’s a world-leading initiative. The Spit West site is just the third Living Boulders project on the planet, and the second in Australia. The first, installed at Lavender Bay in 2023, led to a remarkable 68% increase in biodiversity along the seawall.

Council’s Environment Coordinator and marine scientist, Dr Paloma Matis, said Mosman is proud to lead the way in ecological restoration.

“Mosman Council is proud to be the home of the third ever Living Boulders installation,” she said. “Following the success of the Living Seawall at Ellery Park, we are eager to see how this new initiative will support biodiversity along Mosman’s foreshore by creating habitat for marine life to thrive.”

The work doesn’t stop with installation. Researchers will conduct annual ecological surveys to measure the impact of the boulders against control sites nearby.

Dr Janine Ledet, Research Associate with Living Seawalls, said the structures will provide much-needed micro-habitats.

“These micro habitats are crucial for being able to encourage small species like snails and other little fish to come and swim in and use them as habitat,” she said.

The Spit West project is supported by the NSW Government through its Environmental Trust and delivered by the Sydney Institute of Marine Science in collaboration with Reef Design Lab, UNSW and Macquarie University.