Climate REEFS: Integrating risks, evolution and socio-economics for fisheries, sustainability on coral reefs in a changing climate – phase 2

 

Rising sea temperatures and increased ocean acidity caused by climate change, combined with overfishing and water pollution, are putting coral reefs under severe pressure. Current climate action mostly targets coral reefs less exposed to thermal stress and does not take into account biological and socio-economic adaptation. This project aims to identify adaptive reefs (reefs that show potential to adapt to climate stresses) from space and to reduce the climate vulnerability of the up to one billion people relying on those reefs.

The project will be implemented in four locations across the Philippines and Indonesia by a multi-disciplinary team of researchers, working with NGO implementers to translate evidence into improving people’s lives now and into the future. It will provide proof-of-concept that adaptive reefs can be identified from space and it will advance understanding of how reef-dependent people are vulnerable to their climate-driven degradation. It will quantify and test how remotely sensed metrics predict biodiversity and adaptive capacity and will characterize how gender and social status shape socio-economic vulnerabilities and adaptability to declining reefs. It will also develop tools allowing practitioners in under-resourced, data-poor locations to develop climate-smart reef management, supporting their ecosystem services into the future.

This project is part of the Climate Adaptation and Resilience initiative that aims to enable inclusive and sustainable action to build resilience to climate change and natural hazards of people across Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.