[Coral-List] Request for input on coral relocation studies

[tomascik at novuscom.net]

Considering the topic, you may find Mike Risk's 1999 paper "Paradise 
lost: how marine science failed the world's coral reefs" of interest 
(https://www.publish.csiro.au/mf/MF99067). There a some examples of 
mitigating measures that were successful, and that gives me hope that 
humanity can still pull a rabbit out of the hat.

Tom

On 2023-07-01 11:24 am, Nicole Crane via Coral-List wrote:
> Dear Sebastian,
> There is sometimes a strong divide between people who apply technology 
> and
> ideas and those who investigate the implications, although there 
> shouldn’t
> be. I don’t know of any, and I really mean any, human engineered 
> mitigation
> effort to solve a human caused environmental problem that has stood the
> test of time, and many have caused harm. Witness introducing mongoose 
> in
> Hawaii, rabbits in Australia (for hunting) and on and on. The problem 
> with
> most of these efforts is that good rigorous science to investigate the
> outcomes was not performed. Much like the Titan disaster, where the CEO 
> was
> impatient with regulations and testing, not doing so can lead to 
> problems.
> 
> This of course is MOST important on reefs where people depend on the
> resource. I would be careful letting western run ideas and programs 
> where
> people (notably consulting and applied engineering groups) can make 
> good
> money doing something they (genuinely I believe) feel will help. But if 
> it
> fails in the long term they have less to lose. More importantly is the
> definition of success and failure in this example. Someone’s idea of
> success might be that corals stick and grow, leading to new coral 
> covered
> reef. But your idea may be a reef that has fish and provides food. 
> Those
> two things, as our research has found, are not always the same.
> 
> We have found that just planting corals that are fast growing can lead 
> to
> unintended consequences. Some fish don’t like some corals, and won’t
> recruit to those reefs. I would certainly be careful of sanctioning 
> coral
> outplants from other areas, and if local corals, to carefully assess
> potential trajectory. Monocultures are generally not good for fish, and
> even if someone plants different species, there is little evidence they 
> can
> predict if all will grow, or if a mini specific reef will develop.
> 
> My advice is to be careful here and seek multiple voices on the science 
> and
> efficacy of coral restoration. It is NOT as simple as planting corals 
> on
> bare substrate and they will grow and bring back a reef. As has been
> mentioned, genetics, growth, diversity and ecology are all a part of 
> that
> story.
> 
> Happy to discuss, and to put you in contact with some people who are
> tackling this.  One possible step forward is to form a science 
> committee
> that includes local people and coral scientists to inform the decision
> making, and to think carefully about the outcomes.
> 
> All my best
> Nicole
> 
> On Fri, Jun 30, 2023 at 9:46 PM Todd Barber via Coral-List <
> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
> 
>> Steven,
>> 
>> You are absolutely right NGOs are not necessarily "better" (or worse) 
>> from
>> the actual doing perspective, I meant only to imply they are more
>> transparent (which you pointed out as important).  And when I said NGO 
>> I
>> probably should have defined that as Public Non-Profits (as opposed to
>> private NGOs) which is the case for the organization I represent as 
>> public
>> NGOs have fiduciary duties to transparency. .
>> 
>> Thanks,
>> 
>> Todd R Barber
>> Chairman, Reef Ball Foundation
>> 712 Portia Street North, Nokomis, FL 34275
>> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/712+Portia+Street+North,+Nokomis,+FL+34275?entry=gmail&source=g>
>> 941-720-7549 (Cell & Google Voice)
>> www.reefballfoundation.org
>> www.reefbeach.com (Reefs for Beach Erosion)
>> Reef Ball World Mapping System
>> <
>> https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1KrENaH-kJn_LCDrzCbgtW_1aW-ciY-M&usp=sharing
>> >
>> 
>> 
>> On Fri, Jun 30, 2023 at 11:51 AM Steven Miller <smiller52 at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> 
>> > Hi Todd
>> >
>> > NGOs are not necessarily better than private companies. That sounds right
>> > but is a fallacy. Transparency is paramount. So we mostly agree. My
>> > experience is that there is nothing about NGOs that makes them better
>> > suited to do the work. Indeed, they can be worse without oversight
>> because
>> > they have few constraints. Accountability also matters.
>> >
>> > Best Regards
>> >
>> > Steven
>> >
>> > On Fri, Jun 30, 2023 at 11:38 AM Todd Barber via Coral-List <
>> > coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
>> >
>> >> Hi Sebastian,
>> >>
>> >> I am not suggesting that building the airport over coral is a good
>> >> idea.....all other alternatives should always be considered.  However in
>> >> the case that coral relocation is chosen, there are ways of achieving at
>> >> least mitigation of the loss using a combination of coral rescue, coral
>> >> propagation, genetic rescue, and habitat reconstruction.  We have done
>> >> this
>> >> successfully many times in many countries although you won't find much
>> >> scientific work on projects like these because they are almost always
>> >> conducted under non-disclosure agreements as is typical for most
>> >> mitigation
>> >> projects.
>> >>
>> >> I can tell you that because they are usually under NDAs, the quality of
>> >> the
>> >> work (and restoration results) are highly variable and often
>> substandard.
>> >> If they do choose mitigation, your community would be well suited to
>> make
>> >> SURE they use reputable and transparent folks to perform the mitigation.
>> >> Because a good restoration is multi-goaled, it normally requires
>> >> partnerships with multiple organizations to achieve good results.  NGOs
>> >> (that are typically required to be transparent) with university
>> oversight
>> >> partners (that are rigorous in evaluating goal achievements) are much
>> >> better suited than private firms that are tied to engineering or
>> >> development of the project.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> I hope that helps in your approach.
>> >>
>> >> Thanks,
>> >>
>> >> Todd R Barber
>> >> Chairman, Reef Ball Foundation
>> >> 712 Portia Street North, Nokomis, FL 34275
>> >> <
>> https://www.google.com/maps/search/712+Portia+Street+North,+Nokomis,+FL+34275?entry=gmail&source=g
>> >
>> >> 941-720-7549 (Cell & Google Voice)
>> >> www.reefballfoundation.org
>> >> www.reefbeach.com (Reefs for Beach Erosion)
>> >> Reef Ball World Mapping System
>> >> <
>> >>
>> https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1KrENaH-kJn_LCDrzCbgtW_1aW-ciY-M&usp=sharing
>> >> >
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On Fri, Jun 30, 2023 at 4:14 AM Sebastian Szereday via Coral-List <
>> >> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> > Dear Coral List,
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > For many years a new airport in Tioman Island (Malaysia) has been in
>> the
>> >> > discussion and planning. The proposed runway would result in
>> significant
>> >> > damage to the adjacent coral reefs, as the runway construction would
>> >> > require substantial land reclamation and it would be built on top of
>> an
>> >> > existing coral reef. The airport would also negatively impact the
>> >> > livelihood of the local communities and result in many further
>> >> > socio-economic and sustainability challenges - all in all it is safe
>> to
>> >> say
>> >> > that the airport does not benefit the people nor the environment.
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > Last week, the EIA report was released for public review, and members
>> of
>> >> > the public are invited to give feedback on the proposed project and
>> >> > mitigation measures. One such measure is to (quote) ‘relocate and
>> >> > rehabilitate the corals’. This is of course by no means a viable
>> option,
>> >> > and the EIA has not gone to lengths to identify suitable sites based
>> on
>> >> > common site selection criteria.
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > I was hoping that members of this list could point out specific case
>> >> > studies that detail the efficacy of relocating coral colonies to
>> >> mitigate
>> >> > the impacts of large infra-structure construction projects. Although
>> my
>> >> > organisation is not involved in the direct opposition of the project,
>> >> > summarizing existing studies would help to put together a 1-2 pager
>> for
>> >> > further circulation with the media, stakeholders, and the public, to
>> >> > ultimately provide a summary of existing studies and data.
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > Any input would be much appreciated. There is also a petition
>> >> circulating
>> >> > against the proposed airport, please do sign and share:
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > Petition · Reject the Proposed Tioman Airport · Change.org
>> >> > <
>> >> >
>> >>
>> https://www.change.org/p/tioman-villagers-reject-the-proposed-tioman-airport
>> >> > >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > Best wishes,
>> >> >
>> >> > Sebastian
>> >> > _______________________________________________
>> >> > Coral-List mailing list
>> >> > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>> >> > https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>> >> _______________________________________________
>> >> Coral-List mailing list
>> >> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>> >> https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>> >
>> >
>> _______________________________________________
>> Coral-List mailing list
>> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>> https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list