Reef Resilience Network Celebrates 20 Years Supporting People for Better Reefs

Just a few months after becoming Executive Director of the Bahamas National Trust in 2023, Lakeshia Anderson-Rolle contacted colleagues within the Reef Resilience Network to organize a training for her team and local partner organizations.  Anderson-Rolle had participated in the Network’s trainings nine years earlier, and knew she wanted her staff to have the same experience.

The Reef Resilience Network is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the longest standing ocean program in the history of The Nature Conservancy. Since launching in 2005, it has trained more than 55,000 marine managers and practitioners around the world. And just as the Network has helped Anderson-Rolle and others grow their conservation expertise, so has the Network grown its reach and impact over the years.

From pieces of paper to a global network 

The seeds of the Network were first planted in 2001 following a massive coral bleaching event that decimated reefs across the globe. Determined to respond to the devastation, a small group of marine researchers led by Dr. Rod Salm, the Conservancy’s former Director of Marine Science and Strategies, gathered at a beach house in Hawai‘i. 

The group holed up for days, brainstorming strategies on how to bring coral reefs back to health and keep them strong enough to overcome future bleaching events. 

“Rod recognized that in the face of the doom and gloom of the bleaching event, there were things managers could do to respond to these unprecedented global threats,” said Dr. Lizzie McLeod, Director of the Conservancy’s Global Ocean program who was part of that early brainstorming session. “There were literally pieces of paper all over the floor filled with ideas. We were moving printouts around, mapping out the flow of information to be shared with managers to help save coral reefs.” 

Those pieces of paper soon turned into a CD ROM (cutting-edge technology at the time) filled with conservation strategies, scientific data, and other information on protecting coral reefs. The group called it the Reef Resilience ToolKit, and handed it out at international conferences. They also organized learning exchanges and workshops in coral reef regions around the world to help managers learn and apply the latest science and strategies. And as demand grew, they launched a website where users could find the toolkit’s resources as well as online train-the-trainers courses in multiple languages.  

Eventually, the slew of learning materials and workshops formally evolved into the Reef Resilience Network, serving as a global knowledge hub for all things coral reef conservation. 

Today, more than 450 marine experts work with the Network to develop materials, lead webinars, speak at training sessions, and serve as mentors.

Dr. David Obura, Founding Director of the marine conservation non-profit CORDIO East Africa and one of the early contributors to the Network, credits its success to the ever-growing number of Network members and the expertise they bring.

Over the years, the Network’s online resources have expanded to include case studies from more than 40 countries, live and recorded webinars, and searchable summaries of more than 200 scientific articles about reef resilience.

“It goes beyond the courses,” said Anderson-Rolle of the Bahamas National Trust. “You can revisit the tools whenever you need them, learn from others, and explore collaborative approaches. The support from The Nature Conservancy team has been invaluable for our professional development. There’s always someone available who is responsive and ready to help.”

More than 100 partners and funders have joined the Network over the years including NOAA, the MacArthur Foundation, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, IUCN, Conservation International, the UN Environment Program, WWF, and National Geographic, as well as numerous regional and local organizations. With their support, the Network has hosted 85 in-person and online mentored courses. Explore the photos below for highlights of our in-person trainings over the 20 years.

Growing demand for the Network

Twenty years on, demand for the Network’s trainings, expertise, and support continues to grow.

Nearly one million people access the Network’s online tools every year. Some 88 percent of the world’s 105 nations and territories that have coral reefs have received trainings from the Network.

Dr. Stephanie Wear, who now serves as Senior Vice President for Conservation International’s Moore Center for Science, added: “This has got to keep going. We’re not working ourselves out of job with this one. The need isn’t going away.”

While coral reefs cover less than 1 percent of the ocean floor, they sustain 1 billion people globally and provide $9.9 trillion in ecosystem services. Reefs also provide food and habitat to 25 percent of all marine species.

But reefs face growing threats from pollution, destructive fishing practices, climate change, and ocean acidification. Half of all the world’s coral reefs have already disappeared and if threats are not abated, the world could lose up to 90 percent of its coral reefs by 2050.

The Reef Resilience Network provides the tools and guidance marine managers need to confront these threats and ensure coral reefs continue to support both people and nature.

In the US Virgin Islands, for example, the Network helped marine managers work with government leaders to enact an executive order designating coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrasses as critical infrastructure, opening the door for new conservation funding.

In Kenya, after destructive fishing practices caused reefs to degrade on Pate Island, the Network organized a four-month on-line reef restoration course for government and community leaders. The training led to a series of in-field workshops to help fishing communities develop restoration plans and build artificial reefs and coral nurseries. Success at Pate Island has since spurred similar trainings elsewhere in Kenya and in Tanzania.

Meeting the needs of today and tomorrow

As the Network continues to share knowledge and expertise with marine managers around the world, it also is learning from the very people it was created to help.

The Network surveys its members on the topics they care about most, and marine managers regularly bring new challenges to the table. The constant feedback not only ensures the Network is effective, but it also impacts the research of its global partners.

“The Network has had influence on resilience science, keeping it grounded and focused on the practical needs of managers,” said Obura. “This is one of its biggest impacts.”

Climate change, unsustainable development, and other threats to marine systems may have grown over the years. But from its very beginnings, the Network was meant to continually grow its expertise and impact to ensure reefs—as well as the communities, economies, and biodiversity they support—thrive in the face of ever-shifting challenges.