It’s been a busy fall!
Just a few weeks after returning from the global biodiversity summit in Colombia, I packed my bags and jetted off to yet another conference. This time, I was headed for Quintana Roo in Mexico for Reef Futures 2024, a gathering of 800+ coral reef scientists and restoration practitioners to discuss the latest advances in coral restoration.
After years of Zoom meetings, it was great to catch up with so many colleagues in person. From familiar faces to brand-new contacts, everyone was working toward a shared vision of healthy and self-sustaining reefs.
I especially enjoyed connecting with our SeaTrees project partners at Plant a Million Corals from Florida and Raising Coral from Costa Rica. We exchanged insights about nursery design, monitoring plans, reflections from the field, and reasons for hope.
Plant a Million Corals and Raising Coral are part of a broader collective of local, place-based initiatives working to restore corals around the world. More than half of coral restoration groups are small-scale and community-driven. The dedication and local knowledge of these groups were clearly evident throughout the conference and formed the backbone of many restoration success stories shared during the event.
Compared to most science conferences, the research presented was highly applied, focusing on solutions, communities, and action. One presenter measured how the local reef just offshore reduced wave energy, protecting the very buildings where the conference was held. Another modeled a range of reef futures under different climate scenarios, demonstrating that a future with healthy coral reefs is possible—if we pursue ambitious climate action and restoration.
Many other presentations showcased innovative restoration techniques, including:
- Rapidly growing mature corals from microfragments in land-based nurseries.
- Devices to relocate coral nurseries to cooler water during bleaching events.
- Techniques to capture coral larvae and promote the growth of thermally tolerant corals.
There were also inspiring success stories of restoring reefs across entire hectares—an immense jump in scale achieved only in the last few years.
To conduct restoration at larger scales, we also need to scale up our capacity for monitoring. Over the past decade, large-area imaging or photogrammetry has emerged as an invaluable tool for tracking coral reef changes over time. This technology enables the creation of 3D models of coral reefs, allowing us to visualize and study coral growth and loss.
While barriers to adoption have historically prevented equitable access to this technology, it was encouraging to see a wide range of researchers showcasing work that utilized large-area imaging at the conference. Further capacity building and automation are needed to make this technology more accessible.
To support these efforts, I collaborated with researchers from Scripps Institution of Oceanography to host a two-day workshop focused on the latest advances in large-area imagery.
Still, no amount of monitoring can offset the reality that the road ahead will be tough. The years leading up to this conference have been marked by immense hardship for the coral restoration community. The fourth global bleaching event has caused major setbacks for both natural and restored reefs, with two consecutive years of extreme bleaching in the Caribbean hitting restoration projects especially hard.
We heard multiple stories of entire coral nurseries and outplanted sites being wiped out. These experiences have served as a stark reality check for many in the restoration community, prompting difficult but necessary conversations about the challenges ahead.
Despite these hardships, the common message was one of hope—it is called Reef Futures, after all. I left Mexico feeling confident that we can still achieve a bright future for coral reef ecosystems and the communities that depend on them.
The science clearly shows that a future with coral reefs is possible. With so many innovative approaches, dedicated practitioners, scalable ideas, and stories of resilience in the face of overwhelming odds, we must not settle or accept coral reef decline as a foregone conclusion.
The path forward requires continued collaboration and knowledge sharing to address the immense challenges ahead.
It is up to us to achieve this future. Join us by supporting science-based, community-led coral restoration.