With increasing commitments to scale up restoration globally, marine restoration practitioners must consider climate change impacts, improved data collection to support better decision-making, diverse funding sources to support restoration, and the need to address policy barriers.

How to consider climate change and ecological resilience in marine restoration? 

Climate change impacts are adversely affecting marine habitats and species from tropical to polar seas. Climate-related threats such as increasing sea surface temperatures, changes in sea level, ocean acidity, and storm impacts combine with other local stressors like pollution and unsustainable development, threatening marine habitats. MPA managers need to make strategic decisions about restoration projects considering climate projections and ecosystem responses to climate change.

Figure 2: Summary schematic of the impacts and resulting consequences of climate change (warming, acidification, storminess and deoxygenation) and other human impacts, on coral reefs, polar seas and fisheries.

Credits: https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/3/2019/12/SROCC_FullReport_FINAL.pdf

Key Strategies:

• Include goals that consider existing and future conditions.

• Conduct vulnerability assessments to identify suitable sites.

• Design interventions robust under future changes.

• Promote genetic and species diversity for resilience.

• Maintain ecological connectivity across habitats.

• Support alternative livelihood opportunities to reduce pressure on reefs.

• Revisit objectives to accommodate new knowledge and changing conditions.

• Incorporate actions that reduce climate change impacts (e.g., replanting coastal vegetation).

Adaptive Management and Business Intelligence

Adaptive management is crucial for effective restoration, especially with increasing climate change impacts. Combining adaptive management with business intelligence (BI) approaches can enhance data collection, decision-making, and reporting.

Figure 3. The adaptive management cycle and the modern analytics workflows. When displayed side by side similarities between the two are apparent and the workflow involved in analytics and business intelligence can readily be integrated into the Evaluate & Learn steps of the adaptive management cycle. Source: West, Simon. (2016). Meaning and Action in Sustainability Science: Interpretive approaches for social-ecological systems research. 10.13140/RG.2.2.32127.10406 and The Modern Analytics Workflow: https://help.tableau.com/current/blueprint/en-us/bp_modern_analytics_workflow.htm,

Benefits of an Integrated Approach:

• Increased data collection and reduced processing costs.

• Efficient data transfer to governments and communities.

• Transparency, connectivity, and insights from global projects.

• Quick demonstration of successes and learning from failures.

• Improved data pipelines for ecosystem service valuation models.

Funding Marine Restoration

Securing funding requires a clear restoration plan outlining goals, activities, and the need for funding. Diversified financial mechanisms should be considered, including climate finance, tourism-related taxes, conservation trust funds, and payments for ecosystem services.

Key Steps to Secure Funding:

• Clearly state why funding is necessary.

• Demonstrate clear goals and anticipated activities.

• Outline cost-benefit and return on investment.

• Show capacity to implement restoration activities.

• Make the program visible through effective communication.

• Enlist partnerships and supporters.

• Identify appropriate funding sources.

Table 2: Examples of financing mechanisms that support conservation and restoration

Addressing Policy Barriers

Policy and permitting challenges often hinder marine restoration projects. Efforts are underway to streamline permitting and develop adaptive policies. Understanding restoration risks, opportunities, and trade-offs is crucial for informing policy priorities.

Key Priorities for Robust Restoration Policies:

• Develop guidance based on global best practices.

• Articulate costs and benefits of restoration interventions.

• Provide an overview of existing policies supporting restoration.

• Develop decision-support tools outlining costs, benefits, and risks.

• Support projects spanning multiple ecosystems to maintain function and services.

Multi-Species and Multi-Habitat Restoration

Restoration should expand from individual habitats to entire ecosystems using a landscape/seascape approach. Multi-species and multi-habitat restoration can achieve greater ecological functions, productivity, and resilience.

Designing and Implementing Projects that Support People and Nature

Adopting a social-ecological approach to restoration supports both social and ecological performance criteria. Engaging stakeholders from planning to implementation leads to better outcomes. Including volunteers and citizen scientists can reduce costs and foster environmental stewardship.