[Coral-List] The Four Principles of Ecological Restoration

Fri Aug 17 15:32:51 UTC 2018

Hi all,

I agree that it would benefit the scientific community to highlight what
doesn't work- especially given the well understood publishing bias towards
positive (i.e. significant) results.  Best restoration practices include
what *not *to do, and with coral restoration funding so tight, every grant
not spent pursuing a known dead end is a grant that can be used to pursue
new directions.  Learning what methods don't succeed is still valuable work
and should be celebrated as such.

Generally, if people are afraid of "outing" organizations or people,
perhaps an alternative would be to list methods that failed, or
non-methodological drivers of failure (such as logistical, biological, or
political challenges)?  That way restoration groups can know what to watch
out for or what not to pursue without people getting thrown into the
spotlight.

Curious what everyone else thinks.

Dr. Rob Nowicki

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research & Restoration
Mote Marine Laboratory
24244 Overseas Highway
Summerland Key, FL 33042

Office phone: (941)-504-4812

On Thu, Aug 16, 2018 at 12:29 PM, Damien Beri <beridl at g.cofc.edu> wrote:

> Dear Dr. Frias-Torres,
>
> Making mistakes and learning from them is part of science.  While you are
> under no obligation to share your findings I believe it would help the
> community to understand what went wrong and why. There’s nothing wrong with
> a failed restoration project in my eyes because coral restoration is
> probably the most complex form of environmental restoration occurring.  I
> don’t want to alienate, that’s a personal opinion, I want to learn.
>
> Coming from a position of raising money to donate to coral-restoration it
> would be nice to know some of these details to better make donations. Who
> knows, maybe some of the money we donated went to such organizations, I
> doubt it, but being so far away it can be hard to tell.
>
> Warm Regards,
> Damien Beri
>
> Founder
> Reefined Arts
>
>
> B.S. Biology
> The college of Charleston
> Coral/Aquarium Specialist
>
>
>
> > On Aug 14, 2018, at 5:19 PM, Sarah Frias-Torres <
> sfrias_torres at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Damien,
> > Indeed, I would like very much to share openly in Coral-List the coral
> reef restoration projects that failed because a solid scientific base was
> missing.
> > However, this would be sensitive information (with names and dates) and
> it will alienate the organizations that funded and/or implemented the work.
> >
> > Rather than alienating them pointing out they failed, I think it's
> better to build a strong science-based coral reef restoration community of
> scientists and practitioners, and we make our code of conduct and our
> application of basic principles of ecological restoration well known, and
> we publicize them through all media available, globally.
> >
> > I prefer building bridges than pointing fingers... but I keep a little
> black book with project fails just in case more drastic measures are needed.
> >
> >
> > <><...<><...<><...
> >
> > Sarah Frias-Torres, Ph.D.
> > Twitter: @GrouperDoc
> > Science Blog: https://grouperluna.com/
> > Art Blog: https://oceanbestiary.com/
> >
> >
> >
> > From: Damien Beri <beridl at g.cofc.edu>
> > Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2018 5:03 PM
> > To: Sarah Frias-Torres
> > Cc: coral list
> > Subject: Re: [Coral-List] The Four Principles of Ecological Restoration
> >
> > Hi,
> >
> > Thank you for sharing these 4 basic principles. Could you please share
> these failed restoration projects you have come across?
> >
> > Warm Regards,
> > Damien Beri
> >
> > M.A Marine Conservation and Policy
> > Stony Brook University
> >
> > B.S. Biology
> > The college of Charleston
> > Coral/Aquarium Specialist
> >
> > > On Aug 13, 2018, at 11:34 AM, Sarah Frias-Torres <
> sfrias_torres at hotmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > Dear Coral Listers
> > >
> > > Recently, I have come upon several ill-planned coral reef restoration
> projects that failed. I also see newspaper interpretations on other
> projects that are blown out of proportion.
> > >
> > >
> > > We must bring the coral reef restoration community together and
> implement a set of basic principles to guide present and future projects.
> > >
> > >
> > > Coral reef restoration must follow the four basic principles of
> planning and implementation of ecological restoration in order to increase
> sustainable and valuable outcomes. These principles are explained in Suding
> et al. (2015). Below, I list the four basic principles and a direct
> implication for coral reef restoration labelled as CRR:
> > >
> > > 1. Restoration increases ecological integrity. Restoration initiates
> or accelerates recovery of degraded areas by prioritizing the complexity of
> biological assemblages, including species composition and representation of
> all functional groups, as well as the features and processes needed to
> sustain these biota and to support ecosystem function;
> > >
> > > [CRR] Avoid "monocultures" unless they exist in natural conditions
> (i.e. Acropora thickets);  aim to restore species assemblages
> > >
> > > 2. Restoration is sustainable in the long term. Restoration aims to
> establish systems that are self-sustaining and resilient; thus, they must
> be consistent with their environmental context and landscape setting. Once
> a restoration project is complete, the goal should be to minimize human
> intervention over the long term. When intervention is required, it should
> be to simulate natural processes that the landscape no longer provides or
> to support traditional practices of local communities;
> > >
> > > [CRR] coral reef restoration jump-starts a degraded coral reef that is
> beyond natural recovery. Once the intervention ends, it must be
> self-sustaining, i.e. the restored reef attracts new coral recruits, fish
> community increases, etc.
> > >
> > > 3. Restoration is informed by the past and future. Historical
> knowledge, in its many forms, can indicate how ecosystems functioned in the
> past and can provide references for identifying potential future
> trajectories and measuring functional and compositional success of
> projects. However, the unprecedented pace and spatial extent of
> anthropogenic changes in the present era can create conditions that depart
> strongly from historical trends. Often, then, history serves less as a
> template and more as a guide for determining appropriate restoration goals.
> > >
> > > [CRR] this is shorthand for "don't "restore" a coral reef where there
> was not one to begin with.
> > >
> > > 4. Restoration benefits and engages society. Restoration focuses on
> recovering biodiversity and supporting the intrinsic value of nature. It
> also provides a suite of ecosystem services (e.g., improved water quality,
> fertile and stable soils, drought and flood buffering, genetic diversity,
> and carbon sequestration) that enhance human quality of life (e.g., clean
> water, food security, enhanced health, and effective governance).
> Restoration engages people through direct participation and, thus,
> increases understanding of ecosystems and their benefits and strengthens
> human communities.
> > >
> > > [CRR] Meaning, don't do "helicopter science". Involve the local
> community as much as possible throughout the entire process.
> > >
> > > I would add a communications principle:
> > >
> > > 5. Do not over-promise on what your project can do. Be very clear on
> what you are doing. A coral is not a coral is not a coral. It's not the
> same to outplant one breeding sized branching coral (i.e. 20 cm diameter),
> 20 thumb-sized fragment or 200 coral spat (< 1 cm diameter). Each coral is
> a at a different growth stage, has different mortality rates and different
> outcomes for the project. Educate journalists on the correct way of
> reporting your project. I know many won't listen, but it's worth the effort
> for those who would listen.
> > >
> > >
> > > Reference
> > >
> > > Suding K. and 12 authors (2015) Committing to ecological restoration .
> Science 348: 638-640
> > >
> > > http://science.sciencemag.org/content/348/6235/638
> >
> > Committing to ecological restoration | Science
> > science.sciencemag.org
> > At the September 2014 United Nations Climate Summit, governments rallied
> around an international agreement—the New York Declaration on Forests—that
> underscored restoration of degraded ecosystems as an auspicious solution to
> climate change.
> >
> >
> > >
> > >
> > > <><...<><...<><...
> > >
> > > Sarah Frias-Torres, Ph.D.
> > > Twitter: @GrouperDoc
> > > Science Blog: https://grouperluna.com/
> > > Art Blog: https://oceanbestiary.com/
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
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