Any intervention done to help coral reefs may pose some unintended risks to the local environment. As part of responsible innovation, CORDAP has released a detailed roadmap aimed at supporting practitioners in evaluating those risks and determining whether the risks and benefits of intervening outweigh the threats posed by inaction.
The roadmap was led by a team of coral scientists and experts from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), following a CORDAP workshop held in Australia. Focusing on coral reef ecosystems, the report identifies five priority areas where investment in research and development (R&D) is required to enable large-scale coral restoration and adaptation that considers and mitigates ecological risks, setting out recommendations on each one.
The importance of managing risks in coral interventions
Corals face mounting pressure from the combined threats of climate change, pollution and other human activities. The need to scale up existing interventions and explore new solutions for protecting and restoring the world’s reefs is growing, and it is also vital that the potential ecological impacts of these interventions are addressed.
Every human intervention on coral reef ecosystems has the potential to affect the environment, and local communities. Risks can occur during the implementation phases, but also after a project has finished. Decisions on coral reef interventions need to balance the real and perceived risks and benefits against the risk of not intervening at all.
Researchers selecting corals from nurseries for reef restoration. Photo by FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
5 priority areas for investment in R&D to manage ecological risks
Despite many forms of coral reef interventions taking place across the globe, gaps remain in understanding their potential risks. A collaborative approach, combining shared local and scientific expertise and transdisciplinary methods, will help ensure future and emerging intervention solutions are undertaken with risk management in mind.
CORDAP’s roadmap has identified five priority areas for investment, along with recommendations for R&D that would support each one:
- Responsibly fast-tracking coral reef interventions
- Investigating the ecological risk of coral reef interventions
- Responding to risk (developing risk treatments)
- Supporting decision-making and communications
- Developing emergency responses.
Photo from CORDAP’s workshop in Brisbane (Australia), where 25 researchers from 11 nations gathered to discuss the risks of coral reef interventions, on January 2024.
1. Responsibly fast-tracking interventions
The continued and increasing pressures faced by corals require rapid interventions, but this cannot be at the expense of due diligence. Prioritising the investigation, development and testing of promising methods which maximise benefits while minimising ecological risks is key.
Recommendations:
- Developing training tools to build capacity around ecological risk management
- Optimising protocols for translocating corals, while minimising the risk of invasive species and disease spread
- Developing guidance on species selection for interventions
- Providing support for global coral genetic studies and management
- Optimising the generation and use of knowledge on heat tolerance and other traits
- Build understanding of the benefits and risks of novel interventions in a planned way
A scientist monitoring the coral fragments in a nursery. Photo by FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
2. Investigating the ecological risk of reef interventions
Collating knowledge, advancing risk assessment practices, and delivering research into key ecological risk types across a diverse range of intervention strategies, species and environmental contexts will help improve the effectiveness of conservation efforts.
Recommendations:
- Create and maintain a database of known ecological risk types and studies, and produce a knowledge synthesis.
- Develop risk assessment methods and associated guidance, and apply to novel interventions
- Investigate key risks (genetics, trade-off of attributes, the invasive potential of ‘enhanced’ corals, disease or pests and unintended effects on the microbiome)
3. Responding to risk (developing risk treatments)
Identifying responses to risk involves developing proactive strategies that will mitigate adverse impacts when they occur, and help effectively address unforeseen challenges.
Recommendations:
- Investigate screening tools or other technologies and treatments that aim to prevent harm from diseases or pests
- Develop intervention risk response plans (e.g.removal of leftover structures)
- Develop genetic management plans for more regional contexts
4. Supporting decision-making and communications
Developing estimates and narratives of the risk of doing nothing and facilitating the exchange of information on intervention risk will help regions with limited resources make informed decisions about their coral reef conservation. It’s important to make information on intervention technologies and ecological risk management accessible.
Recommendations:
- Showcase the risks and costs of a ‘do nothing’ approach
- Provide decision-makers with data on intervention performance and ecological risk likelihood
- Develop tailored communication content for different stakeholders on coral reef interventions and their associated ecological risks
- Learn from conservation practices on terrestrial and other marine systems and adapt to coral reefs
- Host workshops and working groups on ecological risks of coral reef interventions
5. Developing emergency responses
To protect coral populations from irreversible damage, threats such as marine heatwaves and coral bleaching events can require immediate action. Undertaking trials and experiments during these stress events also presents an opportunity to fast-track learning and better understand coral resilience but will require pre-planned protocols.
Recommendation:
- Support R&D to investigate high- and low-tech emergency response options and develop guidance for both.
- Creation of emergency response funding that can be quickly accessed when required by nations and large-scale programs.
- Perform experiments and trials, using the disturbance as a natural laboratory to fast-track learning
Turtle over a bleached coral reef at Heron Island, Australia. Photo by The Ocean Agency / XL Catlin Seaview Survey / Richard Vevers (CC BY 2.0)
A comprehensive approach to ecological risk management is vital to achieve CORDAP’s goals. By improving our understanding and control over the ecological risks associated with active coral reef interventions, we can ensure our restoration and conservation approaches are effective and sustainable and benefit the ecosystem and communities that depend on corals.
Addressing the complex challenges facing coral reefs requires a concerted effort that combines immediate action with innovative research and responsible practices. Through regional and global collaboration, better ecological risk management, and strategic alignment with other roadmaps, we can significantly advance global efforts to responsibly fast-track coral reef active interventions, while supporting long term biodiversity goals such as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
We invite you to download and read the full R&D and Technology Roadmap on Managing the ecological risks of coral reef interventions.
You can also learn more about our other scoping workshops and read the full roadmaps.
Cover photo: a biologist from the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary uses a glue gun to reattach a piece of living coral broken lose. Photo by NOAA.