Coral Reefs: A Model for Restoration Management

The coral reefs around southern Abaco, Bahamas have been affected by a number of natural and anthropogenic stressors that have led to their decline. This decline is evident in terms of their low coral cover and scarcity or absence of key reef building corals and other ecologically and economically important species. This project uses an ecosystem approach and incorporates adaptive restoration methods aimed to rectify the situation. This includes the translocation of key grazers on coral reefs, the long-spined black sea urchin, Diadema antillarum and maximizing reef recovery through transplantation of healthy reef-building coral fragments, such as Acropora palmata and Acropora cervicornis, collected opportunistically from broken colonies. Yearly monitoring of reef sites from 2008-2010 showed that fish and benthic communities remained fairly stable. Throughout the study D. antillarum has been increased by 30% and over 70% of transplanted corals are healthy and showing positive growth. Increasing the baseline knowledge, encouraging eco-friendly actions, and changing the way Abaco communities view their environment is critically important for protecting and restoring coral reefs. Activity booklets, environmental summer camps, restoration workshops and opportunistic community education have been implemented as successful community outreach programs and have shown to raise awareness of the importance of coral reef ecosystems.