[Coral-List] Great Barrier Reef Restoration Symposium 16-19 July 2018

[Coral Restoration]

Dear CoralList-ers

What: Great Barrier Reef Restoration Symposium -
GBRrestorationSymposium.org
When: 16-19 July 2018
Where: Cairns, Australia
Who: Organised by National Environmental Science Program (NESP) Tropical
Water Quality Hub, Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP),
Association of Marine Park Tourism Operators (AMPTO).

Help us help the Great Barrier Reef!

There has never been a greater focus on the need to help The Great Barrier
Reef combat the impacts of climate change and other human activity. This
week, the Australian Government announced a historic $AUD500 million
package in reef preservation and restoration activities.

Be part of this important conversation by submitting an abstract and
joining us at the Great Barrier Reef Restoration Symposium in Cairns, 16-19
July.

This event will bring together restoration practitioners, those with new
concepts to present, and those with expertise in areas required to build
and coordinate reef restoration programs. The symposium will explore all
aspects of applied restoration (biological, social, political, economic),
from local-scale citizen-science projects, scientific R&D, to large-scale
engineering interventions, in a collegial manner and with open, welcoming
minds.

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) has suffered greatly from large disturbances
such as back-to-back coral bleaching events. Climate change accelerates the
impact of these threats, and more extreme water temperatures and weather
events are predicted for the near future. As recovery times between
disturbances decrease, the need for coral reef restoration interventions
grows. Combined with traditional management and global strategies to combat
climate change, these efforts aim to help preserve the reef and to
accelerate reef recovery.

On the Great Barrier Reef, we have extraordinary ecological, and biological
knowledge of the system, but relatively little experience in direct
interventions. We need to learn, as quickly as possible, from those who
have already started on this journey. We need to apply existing knowledge
and out-of-the-box thinking to develop new ideas and approaches through
interdisciplinary collaboration and communication.

Please join us at the Great Barrier Reef Restoration Symposium, in Cairns
16-19th July 2018.

Pullman Reef Hotel Casino, 35-41 Wharf Street, Cairns, Queensland 4870,
Australia

Abstracts due 22 May 2018

Early bird registration closes 30 May 2018: Only $300 AUD.

More information: GBRrestorationSymposium.org

[Symposium with a difference]

This will not be a traditional conference. Our aim is to produce a
productive and inspiring interdisciplinary atmosphere, with a range of
presentation formats and a schedule designed to encourage dialogue and
learning.

We encourage different presentation styles, including speed talks, and
co-presented talks. Workshops are planned for the middle of the day, to
facilitate discussions and collaborations over lunch. Each day will end
with a wrap-up session to reflect on the messages of the day and link to
following sessions.

Day one will be a single session of keynotes, focusing on setting the scene
and painting a big picture of the issues facing the Great Barrier Reef, the
shift in perspective towards an interventionist approach and examples of
restoration programs from elsewhere. We will also host a “Listening
Session” on the first day, where we invite stakeholders to present short
talks on what their hopes and expectations are for restoration work on the
Great Barrier Reef.

Day two and three delve deeper into the nuts and bolts of coral restoration
with concurrent sessions dedicated to specific topics. Example sessions
include assisted recovery, enhanced stress tolerance of corals and
genetics, local and regional scale environmental engineering,
geoengineering, social adaptation and assessing feasibility and
prioritisation of deployment. The second half of the last day will be
dedicated to looking forward and discussing new concepts of coral
restoration.

Day Four - field excursions to Fitzroy Island to view coral restoration, a
marine turtle hospital and an operational Crown of Thorns control vessel.

Visit our website for more information on the program, topics and speakers
including presentation types, registration and accommodation, destination.

GBRrestorationSymposium.org

Regards,

Professor Damien Burrows, Symposium Convenor
Hub Leader
Tropical Water Quality Hub
National Environmental Science Programme

For more information see our website GBRrestorationSymposium.org or contact
damien.burrows at jcu.edu.au