Saline coastal wetlands on the Hunter River floodplain were undergoing ‘coastal squeeze’ due to land use conversion and sea-level rise.There was a risk that ecosystem services were getting ‘lost in translation’. Natural resource managers identified an opportunity to restore tidal exchange across the coastal floodplains in areas that were impacted by flood mitigation works through tidal inundation restoration, saline coastal wetland rehabilitation and realignment of management boundaries. The aim being to improve ecosystem services.