Restoration Capacity-Building Exchange for Pacific Island Managers – Florida, 2022

Pacific managers and RRN staff at the 2022 Reef Futures Symposium.

With support from the Reef Resilience Network, twelve marine managers and practitioners participated in a reef restoration capacity-building training in Key Largo, Florida, in conjunction with the 2022 Reef Futures Symposium. During the five-day Symposium, participants connected with coral restoration practitioners, researchers, and resource managers from around the world to exchange the latest techniques, technologies, and science to dramatically scale-up the impact and reach of coral reef restoration. They participated in workshops covering holistic approaches to reef education, large area imagery to monitor coral restoration, and custom sustainable 3D-printed concrete reefs for coral restoration. Participants also toured Mote’s land-based nursery in Key Largo and had in-water training with the NOAA Restoration Center and Coral Restoration Foundation.

In addition, seven of the managers and practitioners spent one week at Mote’s Elizabeth Moore International Center of Coral Reef Research and Restoration on Summerland Key, where they learned about in-situ and ex-situ nursery management, resiliency screening methods, and sexual reproduction for reef restoration.

Special thanks to the staff, partners, and hosts: Shannon Ruseborn (NOAA), Sam Burrell (CRF), Lizzie McLeod (TNC), Farron Taijeron (TNC), Michelle Graulty (RRN), Cherie Wagner (RRN), Mote Marine Laboratory, Coral Restoration Foundation, and the Coral Restoration Consortium.