[Coral-List] article on restoration

[Luiz Rocha]

I for one think that no expense is too big when species survival is at
stake. So if there is a 1% chance that all of the money we are dumping into
restoration will stop ONE species from going extinct, I say it's all worth
it. What I will not do is lump every coral restoration project into the
same bin (calling them all greenwashing), say that the only thing we can do
to stop the coral reef crysis is stop climate change (which is not), and
then cross my arms and do nothing while corals go extinct. That's not why I
became a biologist.

Abraços,

Luiz

Luiz A. Rocha, Ph.D.
Curator and Follett Chair of Ichthyology
Co-Director, Hope For Reefs Initiative

California Academy of Sciences

p. 415.379.5370

LRocha at calacademy.org
Academic Website
<https://www.calacademy.org/staff/ibss/ichthyology/luiz-a-rocha>

55 Music Concourse Drive
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, CA 94118

Twitter <https://twitter.com/CoralReefFish> | Instagram
<https://www.instagram.com/coralreeffish/>


On Wed, Dec 6, 2023 at 1:17 PM Douglas Fenner via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

>        About a month ago, I posted a link to this article by Hughes et al
> on coral reef restoration.  I read the article as documenting a lot of
> shortcomings in coral restoration, based on lots of references.  Dead
> silence.  No one posted any response, and no one sent me an email about
> it.  So does that mean everyone accepts it??  Or does it mean everyone who
> does restoration is ignoring it and hoping everyone will forget it?  Or is
> everyone afraid to criticize it??  Seems hard to believe no one has any
> reaction to it.
>
> "Based on the evidence so far, coral restoration could make a small, albeit
> expensive, contribution to this endeavor." (the endeavor of trying to save
> reefs)
>
> Cheers, Doug
>
> Principles for coral reef restoration in the anthropocene
>
> *SUMMARY:  Coral reefs are critically important ecosystems that
> support coastal societies and economies throughout the tropical
> oceans. However, many of the world’s coral reefs are already seriously
> degraded, especially by over-fishing, pollution, and anthropogenic
> climate change. Consequently, a resurgence of ecological restoration
> programs is underway in an attempt to halt or reverse reef degradation
> and to develop new approaches in anticipation of further declines in
> coming decades. Some forms of rehabilitation of assemblages of corals
> may be feasible, affordable, and ethical—using currently available
> methods and capabilities—for very small areas (typically 1 km2 ) of
> high economic value, such as tourist sites. However, our review of the
> current and proposed restoration interventions indicates that more
> ambitious outcomes remain elusive and may even be counter-productive.
> In light of these challenges, we provide recommendations and a
> conceptual framework to guide future restoration
> projects and emerging approaches, highlighting that coral restoration
> is likely to continue to fail even at small scales unless climate
> change and other anthropogenic impacts are urgently reduced.*
>
> https://url.avanan.click/v2/___https://www.cell.com/one-earth/pdf/S2590-3322(23)00189-6.pdf___.YXAzOmNhbGFjYWRlbXk6YTpnOjJhYzUzNmYzNDA2NTkwNTU4NGFlZWVkY2E2MzE4NTAwOjY6OTJiNzozMGYwNDljNzIzZjliZTc3Y2IwZWYxNzRkMmY5YmE3YTk5ODU5NGE4NTk3ZGQzNzA0M2M4YjZiMjU4NjhjZGExOnA6VA
>
> open-access
>
> Cheers, Doug
>
>
>
> --
> Douglas Fenner
> Lynker Technologies, LLC, Contractor
> NOAA Fisheries Service
> Pacific Islands Regional Office
> Honolulu
> and:
> Coral Reef Consulting
> PO Box 997390
> Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799-6298  USA
>
> World's richest 1% emit as much as 5 billion people
>
> https://url.avanan.click/v2/___https://makerichpolluterspay.org/climate-equality-report/___.YXAzOmNhbGFjYWRlbXk6YTpnOjJhYzUzNmYzNDA2NTkwNTU4NGFlZWVkY2E2MzE4NTAwOjY6YTk5YzoyNGUzYzQwYWJhYzFhMDRkZjcyNTVkYzA1NjFhYzhiNzNiZDNhY2NlYWUzZjJlNjQ0Y2I4NzEzNmVkNTYzMjI0OnA6VA
>
> Huge expansion of fossil fuels planned, will be very destructive
>
> https://url.avanan.click/v2/___https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/08/insanity-petrostates-planning-huge-expansion-of-fossil-fuels-says-un-report___.YXAzOmNhbGFjYWRlbXk6YTpnOjJhYzUzNmYzNDA2NTkwNTU4NGFlZWVkY2E2MzE4NTAwOjY6ODA5MzozN2NmY2I5ZDUzMWUxZjE5YTkxY2ZlYWE0NmQyZjI3ZDljODBiYTY1NmQ3Nzc2OTY1ODZjNTlmOWQ4YmRkM2Y2OnA6VA
>
> "without policy changes, the world will heat up enough by the end of the
> century that more than 2 billion people will live in life-threatening hot
> climates"         Will you be in that area???
>
> https://url.avanan.click/v2/___https://www.yahoo.com/news/scientists-sounding-alarm-dangerous-problem-123000792.html___.YXAzOmNhbGFjYWRlbXk6YTpnOjJhYzUzNmYzNDA2NTkwNTU4NGFlZWVkY2E2MzE4NTAwOjY6MzljODpmNjIwYzNmNmE3NjcxZGUwNTllYTk4ZmZkYTdjYmFkYjQ1MDc2ZDcxNmY4MGFhZGQ1NjE2MDFkYmNjODI5MTY1OnA6VA
>
> World subsidies for fossil fuels reached an all-time high of over $1
> TRILLION in 2022, the last year for which data is available.  The subsidies
> MUST end.
>
>
> https://url.avanan.click/v2/___https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/fossil-fuel-subsidies-must-end/___.YXAzOmNhbGFjYWRlbXk6YTpnOjJhYzUzNmYzNDA2NTkwNTU4NGFlZWVkY2E2MzE4NTAwOjY6NTQyYjoxMzdjZWQxMDc4MGUzY2E3ZjkwOGYxMDEwMWZiNGM3YWMxMmY0YzliMGFkMWVlNjY1ODE0ZjNkYmQzYTI2OTA2OnA6VA
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> https://url.avanan.click/v2/___https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list___.YXAzOmNhbGFjYWRlbXk6YTpnOjJhYzUzNmYzNDA2NTkwNTU4NGFlZWVkY2E2MzE4NTAwOjY6NDk2YzpiYTY0Zjg4ZWFhMDJjOWJiMmYwYjRmMWUyZjdkNjdhMTBiMjY0YWFhMTNlOGRkYjQ4ZGUxZjBhMTU2NDM0NzhiOnA6VA