Strengthening Reef Resilience: Skills & Strategies for Marine Managers Training – New Zealand, 2026

Map of countries and territories reached with RRN training

In July 2026, 25 marine managers and practitioners from 18 countries and territories across the Caribbean, Pacific Islands, Coral Triangle, and Western Indian Ocean regions participated in the Strengthening Reef Resilience: Skills & Strategies for Marine Managers Training in Auckland, New Zealand. Held in conjunction with the 2026 International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS), the weeklong training was designed to strengthen participants’ management capacity to address climate-related threats to coral reefs through instruction, mentorship, networking, and knowledge exchange. The training kicked off with a full-day workshop before ICRS, including sessions on how to maximize the ICRS experience, climate-smart management, and strategic communication. Explore some of the training resources here:

  • Context for coral reef management and resilience-based management presentation
  • Climate-smart coral reef management planning presentation
  • Strategic Communication for Conservation guidebook and Communication Planning Process online toolkit

With guidance from the Network, participants attended ICRS talks, poster sessions, plenaries, and social events to foster exchange, networking, and collaboration with peers and scientists throughout the week. A “world café” session was held featuring small group discussions with six experts on the topics that mattered most to participants—coral reef restoration, monitoring (including using drones), and traditional knowledge and management. The goal of these activities was to help participants access targeted information and resources to translate into action for their reef systems.

Participants represented government agencies, non-governmental organizations, research institutions, community-based conservation organizations, and protected area management programs from Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Saba, Puerto Rico, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tokelau, Cook Islands, Guam, Hawaiʻi, and the Federated States of Micronesia.

Thank you to these marine managers for the critical work they do to manage our coral reefs. And thank you to the experts and facilitators who made the training possible: Annick Cros, Margaux Hein, Liz Shaver, Caitlin Lustic, Michelle Graulty, Petra MacGowan, Kristen Maize, Steve Schill, Liam Lachs, Adriana Humanes, Manuel Gonzalez-Rivero, Alessandra Shea, Maria Villalpando, and Jim Hendee.

2026 New Zealand ICRS Managers Training Piha Beach field trip landscape 3333 version

Hear what our participants had to say about their training experience:

“Networking with reef managers from around the globe was deeply valuable and inspiring. Gaining first-hand, vital insights into international marine management strategies provided essential perspectives that I can apply to our own conservation efforts.”

“I left with several ideas that I believe can be adapted to strengthen conservation efforts in Belize.”

“The meetings served as a valuable platform for shaping future management activities within the Marine Protected Area (MPA). They provided important guidance on establishing strategic collaborations and identifying the appropriate stakeholders to engage in addressing future management challenges. The exchange of knowledge and experiences also offered valuable insights and inspiration for strengthening coral reef conservation and improving the management of MPAs in Madagascar.”

“My take-away for the week would be effective marine conservation cannot be achieved by a single institution alone—it requires strong collaboration among government agencies, researchers, local communities, NGOs, and international partners. Seeing how these partnerships have driven successful conservation initiatives has provided valuable insights into how we can strengthen our own collaborative efforts back home."

“The networking experience was excellent. It allowed me to connect directly with experts working on the latest advances in coral reef science and to ask about the practical application of their research to marine protected area management. Many of the conversations became a valuable exchange between science and management, because I was able to ask how research findings could be translated into real management decisions. In some cases, these applied management questions were not necessarily part of the original research objectives, so the dialogue was very enriching for both sides. It was a real win-win experience.”

“This week not only strengthened my technical understanding of reef resilience assessment, resilience-based management, and climate-smart restoration, but connected me with an incredible global network of people facing similar challenges.”