Project title: Restoration Road Maps: Improving coral restoration and capacity of managers in the Caribbean MPAConnect Network
Project lead: Patricia Kramer
Countries involved: USA, Australia, Honduras, Dominica, Mexico, Turks and Caicos
institutions: Ocean Research and Education Foundation/ AGRRA, MPAConnect/Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute, Roatan Marine Park, Dominica Local area management authority and Resilient Dominica, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Turks & Caicos Reef Fund, Institute for Socio-Ecological Research, University of Miami, University of Tennessee
Total budget: $970,200
Duration: 36 months
In response to the spread of stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD), a disease that is deadly to coral, this project addresses two key problems. Firstly, how to approach the dramatic and devastating loss of corals from SCTLD, especially in highly susceptible species that are at risk of functional extinction and which are not normally included in current restoration activities. Secondly, how to build the capacity of marine protected area managers to work on restoration of high risk Caribbean corals. The proposal brings together coral scientists, conservationists, and local managers throughout the Caribbean to build local coral restoration capacity and attempt to restore key reef areas in the face of this marine pandemic.