[Coral-List] Coral restoration trashing

Tue Aug 22 21:48:38 UTC 2023

Phanor,
   I think there is substance to what you are saying.

   However, in my view, coral restoration is treating the symptoms, not the
causes.  The old saying "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"
applies here I think.  It IS true that in medicine there are diseases such
as colds where you can't treat the cause, only the symptoms, and cold
medicines all treat the symptoms, not the cause.  For many medical
problems, both are treated, I think.  I have NO problem with that.  But if
you can, treating the cause is vastly better than treating the symptoms.
And we know what the causes of global warming are, and how to stop that.

    One problem is that not all these things are equal.  If we don't get
climate change under control, coral reefs will be devastated within 20-30
years we are told, 90% or more mortality.  May happen sooner.  No amount of
coral restoration will keep the corals alive when bleaching is killing
everything, even the most temperature-tolerant corals will be killed if the
temperatures go too high and if we don't take actions on emissions, they
are CERTAIN to go too high.  I hope it doesn't come to that, but if we keep
on like we are (we = the entire world but primarily the big emitters like
China, the US, EU, etc) there is little hope.  So far, the rate of
emissions of greenhouse gases over the whole world have not even started to
decrease.  That doesn't bode well.  People are scrambling to save the
corals they were growing for restoration.  They don't have much choice.
This is an indicator of what is to come if the world doesn't start acting
more decisively on global warming.

If we stop climate change and global warming, but don't do coral
restoration, the reefs will stay pretty much like they are now, and in much
of the Indo-Pacific, which is the elephant of coral reefs, that's actually
not bad right now.  If we do coral restoration and don't stop global
warming, we can kiss our coral reefs goodbye.

     Coral restoration is not able to undo what global warming is doing to
coral reefs.  It can help small, high-value areas and can work really well
with good water quality and lack of mass bleaching.

     Not to mention in a place like Florida, the water quality is so bad
that corals you plant out are pretty much doomed as another poster just
pointed out.

      We're all incredibly frustrated, we as individuals can't stop
emissions, only whole societies can, and it will cost serious money.
However, not taking enough action to reduce emissions will lead to far
greater economic losses and the deaths of huge numbers of people.
Something like 60,000 people in Europe died of heat in Europe last year,
and that wasn't nearly as bad as this year and the future.

      So we and the corals are in a really bad fix, and there is no easy
way out.  Societies such as the US have been misled into doubting that
climate change is real and that humans cause it, in spite of mountains of
scientific evidence that both of those are true, which has delayed action
and put us in this mess.  Other societies don't want to spend the
big money, which is understandable unless you consider the costs of
inaction.  Everybody wants someone else to put the bell on the cat.  I
completely sympathize with those grasping at straws, and particularly
because coral gardening works so well.

       I am reminded of an analogy I've posted before.  If you have a
patient that is bleeding profusely from the aorta, and has a small scratch,
and you are a competent emergency physician, which should you treat????  If
you don't stop that bleeding, the patient will be dead in a few short
minutes or less!!  The scratch can wait.  It's called "triage."  Threats to
life are NOT equal.  Treating a scratch, and some coral restoration, are
now in the position of being "rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic."
Well-meaning, works great in some locations until mass bleaching kills
nearly everything.  But don't we have to face up to reality??

Cheers, Doug

On Mon, Aug 21, 2023 at 10:11 PM Phanor Hernando Montoya Maya via
Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

> Luiz, thank you very much for your message. Such a comment coming from a
> non-restoration practitioner or scientist is precious.
>
> I hope your comment stops the confrontation between passive (i.e.,
> protection) and active (i.e., restoration) coral reef conservation
> scientists. Although on different fronts, we all work on the same goal or
> interest: resilient coral reefs, right? Let's stop wasting our energy and
> time arguing between us! Polluters, climate change deniers, among others
> responsible for coral reef deterioration, laugh at us when every time we
> engage in another argument.
>
> Why is it so difficult to understand that only a joint siege strategy that
> combines proactive (i.e., effective impact control) and reactive (i.e.,
> assisted ecosystem recovery) restoration efforts might give us a better
> chance to achieve our goal?  This strategy must be defined and implemented
> by all parties involved. With circa 80 years of coral reef science, we all
> know why, how, and what we need to do. Then, let's join forces and seek
> the political will needed to fund and implement a coral reef conservation
> campaign.
>
> Best,
> Phanor
>
>
> Phanor H Montoya Maya, Ph.D. (CERP 0514)
>
> Coral Restoration Program Manager
>
> Phone: +1-305-522-3690
>
> Work Phone: +1-786-780-2660
>
>
>
> Coral Restoration Foundation™
>
> coralrestoration.org
>
>
>
> Headquarters
>
> 89111 Overseas Hwy, Tavernier, Florida 33070
>
>
>
> Exploration Center
>
> 5 Seagate Blvd, Key Largo, Florida 33037
>
>
>
> INSTAGRAM @coralrestorationfoundation
>
> FACEBOOK CoralRestorationFoundation
>
> TWITTER @coralcrf
>
> Dr. Phanor Montoya: Restaurando Arrecifes Coralinos | TED Talk
> <
> https://www.ted.com/talks/dr_phanor_montoya_restaurando_arrecifes_coralinos
> >
>
>
> > ------------------------------
> >
> > Message: 2
> > Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2023 08:07:36 -0700
> > From: Luiz Rocha <lrocha at calacademy.org>
> > To: Coral List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
> > Subject: [Coral-List] Coral restoration trashing
> > Message-ID:
> >         <CAGRWgp7Buvzoa-tT_Mr4tsAPubGEGcWnqVPfBgrkPoEoCnN=
> > Dg at mail.gmail.com>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
> >
> > Alright, I've had it. I am sick and tired of the constant trashing and
> > criticism that coral restoration projects and that any science even
> > remotely related to restoration are getting. Even though I don't work on
> it
> > (directly or indirectly) I know a lot of scientists working on coral
> > restoration. And I also know a lot of restoration projects. Not a single
> > one of them has ever said that the solution for the coral reef crysis is
> > coral restoration. This is hyperbole created either by the media and the
> > critics of coral restoration.
> >
> > Now more specifically about the critiques to every kind of science
> related
> > to restoration. If we put together all of the dollars that went into
> coral
> > restoration science, in all of human history, that adds up to (very
> > graciously) about half a billion dollars. For those that keep saying that
> > we can solve the climate crisis with coral restoration dollars, please,
> > please, tell me how 500 million dollars would solve climate change. If
> you
> > sit down and really think about it, I hope you realize that climate
> change
> > is not a money problem. We have the money and the solutions to do it.
> What
> > we do not have is the political will.
> >
> > And for those that keep saying that corals in air conditioned aquaria are
> > not a solution, rhinos in zoos aren't either, so should we kill them all
> > and be done with it? The only surviving individuals of unique genetic
> > lineages of several species that used to be in Florida are now only alive
> > in aquaria. So let's use the few hundreds of thousands of dollars being
> > used to keep them alive to convince Ron De Santis and Donald Trump that
> > climate change is real. Yeah, that's gonna work. These dollars (even if
> > dollars could solve climate change, which they won't) are not competing
> > with climate change dollars. That's like asking to stop funding coral
> > taxonomy because giving coral species names is only rearranging the
> chairs
> > in the Titanic. That argument can be used for any branch of science that
> is
> > not fighting climate change. And it is not true.
> >
> > So, get off your horses, fight climate change the best way you can, and
> > keep doing science, even if it's not related to climate change. Because
> it
> > will help.
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > 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/>
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------
> >
> > Subject: Digest Footer
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> > ------------------------------
> >
> > End of Coral-List Digest, Vol 180, Issue 19
> > *******************************************
> >
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