Reef management and restoration to improve coastal protection for risk reduction.

Coral reefs play an important role in coastal protection and reduction of risks derived from climate events. Reefs dissipate wave energy, reduce storm surge and maintain shoreline elevation, protecting coasts from erosion and flooding. Several ecological, geological, and oceanographic factors contribute to the coastal protection capacity of reefs. Nevertheless, the combined impacts of climate change and some anthropogenic factors reduce this capacity. Coral reef restoration can be employed to restore key ecosystem services, such as coastal protection, especially if the physical structure of the reef has been degraded and can serve as a risk reduction solution when it is combined with a series of management approaches that can boost coastal protection values. This type of restoration can meet conservation, resource management and disaster risk reduction objectives simultaneously, and provide multiple socio-economic benefits to coastal communities. A series of recommendations for global application based on lessons learned from Mexico are presented to assess when, where, and how to apply reef restoration for risk reduction.