Translating the 10 golden rules of reforestation for coral reef restoration

Abstract

Efforts are accelerating to protect and restore ecosystems globally. With trillions of dollars in ecosystem services at stake, no clear framework exists for developing or prioritizing approaches to restore coral reefs even as efforts and investment opportunities to do so grow worldwide. Restoration may buy time for climate change mitigation, but it lacks rigorous guidance to meet objectives of scalability and effectiveness. Lessons from restoration of terrestrial ecosystems can and should be rapidly adopted for coral reef restoration. We propose how the 10 golden rules of effective forest restoration can be translated to accelerate efforts to restore coral reefs based on established principles of resilience, management, and local stewardship. We summarize steps to undertake reef restoration as a management strategy in the context of the diverse ecosystem service values that coral reefs provide. Outlining a clear blueprint is timely as more stakeholders seek to undertake restoration as the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration begins.

All-inclusive coral reef restoration: How the tourism sector can boost restoration efforts in the caribbean

“…Its potential role as a major contributor to reef restoration, beyond simple financial contributions, could help address many of the above-mentioned challenges (Hein et al, 2018). Here, we present the example of a private sector driven reef restoration program across the Caribbean as a solution to overcome some of the bottlenecks of scalability, economic feasibility, and long-term stability in coral restoration (Waltham et al, 2020;Quigley et al, 2022). This program incorporates scientific research aimed at solving biological and ecological knowledge gaps that sets the base for restoration operation decisions.…”

Horizon scan of rapidly advancing coral restoration approaches for 21st century reef management

“…To develop more standardised practice as well as catalyse innovative tools, activities have become increasingly networked via regional or global bodies (e.g. the Coral Restoration Consortium) with goals to more systematically and collectively build knowledge [11], whilst also adopting core principles from more well established terrestrial and coastal restoration fields [12][13][14] (Box 1). In doing so, building a more robust scientific process has galvanised this movement to transform the scale, feasibility and hence cost-effectiveness needed to solidify reef restoration as tangible management action [7,15].…”

“…Box 1. General principles for viability and development of coral reef restoration: ten 'key rules' for reef restoration programs ( [14]; see also [11,12,105]) identifying barriers slowing natural recoveryis essential where possible. 6.…”

“…Developing and scaling infrastructure to ensure a living repository is therefore a core requirement for coral restoration (e.g. [ 14 ]; Box 1 ). Whilst land-based aquarium systems — in particular those that already support propagation practices (Propagation and planting) — carry potential to support live material biobanking (e.g.…”

Coral micro-fragmentation assays for optimizing active reef restoration efforts

“…As coral reef ecosystems continue to decline worldwide, many have called for active intervention and innovative management tools to address conservation challenges and reverse the decline of coral reef habitats ( Anthony et al, 2017 ; Kleypas et al, 2021 ; Rinkevich, 2005 ; van Oppen et al, 2015 , 2017 ; Vardi et al, 2021 ; Vaughan, 2021 ). Corals form the structure and foundation of coral reefs, fulfilling an ecosystem engineering role analogous to trees in terrestrial ecosystems ( Quigley, Hein & Suggett, 2022 ). The ethics and scalability of active interventions to reverse coral reef decline remain a subject of debate ( Anthony et al, 2020 ; Caruso, Hughes & Drury, 2021 ; Doropoulos et al, 2019 ; Filbee-Dexter & Smajdor, 2019 ; Williams et al, 2018 ), but are common management strategies among terrestrial ecosystems.…”