In November 2023, ICRI member, and co-chair of the ICRI ad hoc committee on Reef Restoration and Adaptation, the Coral Restoration Consortium (CRC) conducted an online global survey of reef restoration practitioners to better understand the primary issues they are facing and their most pressing learning needs. The survey received a robust set of responses from over 240 practitioners across 70 countries.
The results have been published in a CRC white paper “Results of the 2023 Survey of Coral Restoration Practitioners Needs”. These results will aid the CRC and others, better support the coral restoration community.
While the prevailing threats to coral reefs globally include effects of climate change, the survey revealed that issues affecting reefs at the local level (practitioner level) vary greatly by region. This emphasises the necessity of regional strategies and solutions tailored to specific local challenges. The CRC will continue to expand and deepen its network of Regional Groups, which were also identified by the survey responses as the most-desired type of engagement from the CRC followed by a desire to continue webinars, and use social media to communicate the latest techniques in coral restoration.
The survey also provided a list of the most pressing learning needs for practitioners. The top three learning needs identified are:
• Learning the latest techniques in coral interventions and restoration (54%),
• Learning how to scale up to meet ecological restoration goals (49%) and,
• Learning how to incorporate sexual reproduction into projects (32%).
Efforts for the next phase of the CRC (2024 and beyond) have already begun to align with these survey outcomes with the recent launch of the CRC’s Storytelling Hub. The CRC will continue to focus on expanding and deepening its network of Regional Groups, which were identified by the survey responses as the most-desired type of engagement from the CRC followed by a desire to continue CRC webinars, and using social media to communicate the latest techniques in coral restoration. Finally, 77% of the Reef Futures Symposium attendees felt that attendance impacted their organisation’s coral reef restoration practice.
ICRI is committed to supporting its members and the CRC to shift coral reef ecosystems toward a positive trajectory.
