Mote Marine and The Nature Conservancy sign MOU for coral restoration initiative

In the last three decades, coral reef cover in Florida and the Caribbean has declined between 50% and 80% in some areas due to ocean acidification, increasing ocean temperatures, overfishing, unplanned coastal development and other stressors.

Coral reef systems are necessary to help protect and keep shorelines strong and healthy for those that depend on them. In order to restore damaged and lost coral, Mote Marine Laboratory and the Nature Conservancy have partnered up on a coral conservation initiative. The two organizations signed a memorandum of understand, MOU, on Sept. 12 to begin the first steps of a 15-year initiative of joint coral restoration and conservation efforts.

The initiative aims to restore over 100 million coral reefs across the region, share science-based coral restoration and conservation methods and construct necessary facilities such as coral gene banks, a press release from Mote said. The MOU will launch one year of planning and preparation, including the growth of 50,000 coral fragments.

From now until September 2017, the MOU will aid in the securing of permits, help staff plan the reef initiative for the coming years and fundraise. Approximately 50,000 fragments of various coral species will also be grown at Mote’s facilities in the Florida Keys and the Conservancy’s facilities in the U.S. Virgin Islands in the next year. In early 2017, Mote will add to these efforts with the opening of its new coral reef research facility on Summerland Key, Mote’s statement said.

By 2020, the initiative aims to have a networked coral gene bank of threatened Caribbean and Florida coral species established. By the same year, the initiative will have accumulated genetically identified coral tissue samples as “insurance” against climate change and catastrophic events for coral, such as bleaching and oil spills. Other efforts will include enhancing or expanding coral nurseries and adding gene banks to both organizations’ facilities and advancing international partnerships for upcoming restoration in Cuba and the Bahamas.

In the distant future, goals for 2025 include planting one million coral fragments in the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Florida Keys and planting at least 500,000 in at least three other Caribbean nations. The organizations hope to establish a new coral-restoration facility in St. Croix and complete the training of local personnel working here and abroad in coral restoration areas.

The MOU will also help expand Mote’s Coral Research and Conservation Program they host with EARTHANGLE Inc. for middle-and high school students and engage more students in coral reef conservation and restoration activities in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Florida Keys.