Abstract Summary
Globally, coral reefs are in decline. The intensity and frequency of disturbances have pushed
coral reefs close to their thermal tolerance limit, causing over half of the world’s coral to die
(Hughes et al., 2018). Yet, coral reefs form the foundations of the most diverse marine
ecosystem on the planet (Hoegh-Guldberg, 1999), and remain invaluable to the world. Given
the current global temperature trajectories, a toolbox of options are needed for conservation of
coral reefs including coral reef rehabilitation, repair and restoration activities (Van Oppen et
al. 2015). While active restoration of coral reefs holds a number of challenges, issues, and
uncertainty, the need to identify suitable areas to target restoration is arguably as important as
restoration techniques. Marine conservation is traditionally focused on marine protected areas
(MPAs), but given the current coral crisis, efforts need to start including active efforts in
restoring the reef resources (Rinkevich, 2008). Using remote-sensed high resolution maps of
coral reefs in the Cairns region of Australia’s iconic Great Barrier Reef overlayed with
historical disturbance data, a spatial action map was created highlighting optimal areas where
restoration can be targeted where threats are recognised and risk minimised. The application of
this is transferable to reefs globally, and can assist in higher survivorship and better cost benefit
outcomes. This is critical, as survivorship of coral reefs is related to inadequate site selection
and stochastic events (Bayraktarov et al. 2016).
