Project

Restore with Resilience

Researchers and residents of the island of Oʻahu in Hawaii are working together on an innovative project to enhance future reef resilience.
Divers monitor coral bleaching

Coral reefs in Hawaii have experienced multiple large-scale bleaching events causing reef degradation. Current climate projections have led to predictions that bleaching events will become more severe. 

By involving communities, and with the help of volunteers, the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology and the Coral Resilience Lab have launched one of the first coral restoration projects in the region. 

An innovative research program 

Restore with Resilience is an innovative research program. Researchers are exposing small fragments of each “coral of opportunity” (colonies already physically dislodged from the reef) to a thermal stress test in the lab. Then they selectively fragment and outplant the colonies that are more thermally tolerant, so they have a better chance of surviving during the next bleaching event. The Restore with Resilience team have developed an experimental design to test whether outplanting with resilient corals is an effective strategy to be scaled up worldwide. 

Resilient corals have been outplanted onto local reefs, and hundreds of community members have had the opportunity to participate in an active scientific research and resource management project. 

Restore with Resilience hopes to expand these efforts from Oʻahu to Maui and Hawaii Island. The team also hopes to establish collaborative projects with researchers and resource managers across the Pacific. 

Are you interested in this project? 

Picture of boats and kayaks on the water with people on board
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Picture of a diver underwater and corals planted on experimental plots
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Picture of a diver underwater using a drill to collect coral samples
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Project began: 01/09/2019 

Leading organisation: University of Hawaii at Mānoa - Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology - Coral Resilience Lab 

Covered Countries: United States of America 

Theme: Ocean 

Sub-themes: Coastal resource management, Ocean education, Participatory/citizen science, Protecting marine ecosystems 

Tag: #Women #Youth 

Project needs

  • Communication strategy design 
  • Digital communication 
  • Graphic design 
  • In search of financial partners 
  • Logistical support 
  • Monitoring and evaluation 
  • Partnerships development 
  • Press relations 
  • Social Media 
  • Sponsorship/ Philanthropy 
  • Volunteer workforce 
  • Web design 

So, want to help this project?

Are you excited to participate?