Abstract Summary
NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) rolled out its new Strategic Plan this fall. This plan incorporates lessons learned from programmatic evaluations and assessments, and its implementation is predicated on employing a resilience based management strategy. The plan takes a multi-pronged approach to reduce threats affecting coral reefs, particularly in U.S. waters, and to restore coral ecosystem function at an ecological scale. Direct and ecologically informed interventions are needed to keep coral reef ecosystems viable and functioning. The Coral Program’s new Strategic Plan formally establishes an additional pillar of work: Restore Viable Coral Populations. This pillar specifically addresses building and maintaining resistance and resilience to threats and will drive recovery of the ecosystem. This pillar will support necessary research, implement on-the-ground actions to prevent additional losses of corals and their habitat, and apply innovations in restoration and intervention techniques to create resilient, genetically diverse, and reproductively viable populations of key coral species. Active and targeted coral repopulation, using novel ecological interventions (e.g., stress hardening and assisted gene flow), will facilitate adaptation of coral reef ecosystems to evolving environmental conditions. Additionally, the Coral Program will improve the use of regulatory mandates to prevent loss of coral and coral reef habitat through supporting technical knowledge transfer to permitting agencies, encouraging consistent use of best management practices, and informing mitigation options with appropriate restoration techniques. Our strategies are to: *Improve coral recruitment habitat quality *Prevent avoidable losses of corals and their habitat *Enhance population resilience *Improve coral health and survival The Coral Program will require the assistance of numerous partners to realize the objectives of these restoration and resilience strategies. The Coral Restoration Consortium is a primary partner, because its membership spans the various disciplines and expertise required. To research and develop the various techniques, the Coral Program will engage academia, nongovernmental organizations, and private industry.Implementation of these techniques at ecologically meaningful scales will also require partnership with restoration practitioners, private foundations, and federal and local management agencies, as well as less traditional partners in engineering and technology development.
