A West Australian-first coastal erosion research reef installed off C.Y. O’Connor Beach in 2022, reducing wave height and energy and blossoming into a thriving habitat, has won a 2025 WA Coastal Award for Excellence.
The North Coogee engineered fringing reef pilot project led by the City of Cockburn has received the Coastal Management Award in recognition of its positive outcomes in reducing the impact of wave erosion and significantly increasing biodiversity.
The awards are coordinated by the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage for the WA Planning Commission’s Coastal Zone Management Program and CoastWA.
City of Cockburn Mayor Logan Howlett said the project was a demonstration of leadership and the power of successful partnerships.
“Faced with intolerable erosion risks identified in our Coastal Adaptation Plan, the City chose innovation over retreat,” Mayor Howlett said.
“It demonstrates leadership in addressing climate-driven shoreline loss while creating a unique recreational and ecological asset for Perth.
“A partnership between the City, global marine and subsea services company MMA Offshore (now Cyan Renewables), and The University of Western Australia (UWA) Oceans Institute created a two-stage 270-module reef that mimics nature.
“Like a natural reef, its concrete module bomboras attenuate wave energy and have created a marine habitat that is now a snorkellers’ paradise inhabited by abundant fish species and covered in macroalgae, seaweed and mussels.”
Research from UWA has confirmed a 10 per cent reduction in wave height and a 20 per cent reduction in wave energy hitting the shoreline.
It has also resulted in a significant increase in biodiversity with fish species doubling within a year of the installation of 135 stage one modules in March 2022.
Mayor Howlett said the fringing reef model could be easily transferred and modified to other coastal environments where communities wanted to consider options other than traditional hard structures like rock walls and groynes.
The awards were announced in conjunction with the 2025 WA Coastal Forum: Communities, Coasts & Change, hosted by the Western Australian Coastal and Marine Network held at Coogee Beach Surf Life Saving Club on 27 October.
Read the Ministerial Media Release on the State Government media statement
website.