31 March 2026
Coral reefs have long been among nature’s most resilient ecosystems, evolving over millennia to withstand environmental change. Today, that resilience is being pushed to its limits. The pace of climate-driven ocean warming is now outstripping the ability of corals to adapt, with climate-related thermal stress emerging as the primary driver of reef decline.
As mass bleaching events intensify, what is being lost is not only coral, but the living infrastructure that sustains entire island nations. Reefs underpin food security, protect coastlines from storms, and support economies built on fisheries and tourism. Their decline is not an environmental issue alone, it is a threat to economies, livelihoods, culture, and survival.
Across Small Island Developing States (SIDS), this reality is already unfolding. Through the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, and initiatives such as the SIDS World Restoration Flagship, countries are not only working to turn the tide, but also to spotlight and scale the most effective restoration approaches. The Flagship serves as a global platform to elevate best practices, connect knowledge, and share solutions emerging from island contexts, where innovation is often born out of necessity.
The UNEP Small Grants Programme (SGP), dedicated to the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of the coastal and marine ecosystems, supports approaches such as Reefs of Hope, which stands out as a powerful example of locally driven, science-based restoration that can inform and inspire action across SIDS and beyond
In a race against warming oceans, UNEP is supporting Corals for Conservation (C4C) to implement the Reefs of Hope methodology in Fiji and neighboring Pacific nations, with financial support from the Principality of Monaco. Through an adaptive, learning-by-doing approach, this methodology focuses on one urgent goal: securing a future for the Pacific’s coral reefs in a changing climate.
Adapting Corals to a Warming Ocean
Unlike traditional restoration, Reefs of Hope is grounded in the science of facilitated adaptation. It not only prevents the loss of rare and declining species but also improves the reproduction of heat-adapted corals, strategically securing the future of the ecosystem.
- Identifying and Translocating Resilient Coral Strains
The process begins by identifying bleaching-resistant corals within "hot pockets": nearshore reefs and shallow lagoons already approaching their thermal limits. Specimens of these surviving corals are then translocated to cooler, less stressed reef areas. By moving them from environments where their continued survival is questionable to more secure locations, Reefs of Hope establishes a critical genetic reservoir that ensures the continuity of these climate-adapted lineages for the entire reef system.
- Establishing Gene-bank Nurseries
To secure these resilient lineages, the project establishes diverse gene-bank nurseries, such as the Bula Reef Nursery in Fiji’s Mamanuca Islands. These nurseries maintain heat-adapted corals over multiple years in a protected environment. By clustering diverse strains of each coral species, the methodology ensures that when these corals spawn, crosses between known bleaching-resistant strains occur, restoring natural sexual reproduction processes and resulting in heat-adapted coral larvae.
- Scaling Resilience through Natural Recruitment
The impact of these patches extends across the wider reef system. The project harvests nursery-reared corals to create patches of bleaching-resistant corals on cooler outer reefs. In addition, by establishing bleaching-resistant coral patches among bleaching-sensitive populations, the project encourages the sharing of resistant algal symbionts with surrounding corals through sexual reproduction. Furthermore, these patches create a strong settlement signal for incoming coral larvae. Since many coral species must acquire their symbiotic algae from the environment within days of settlement, these patches serve as a vital source for the inoculation of juvenile corals with heat-tolerant algae, preventing early mortality and spreading resilience.
- Shifting toward Active Evolutionary Support
The uniqueness of "Reefs of Hope" lies in its shift from static preservation to active evolutionary support. This methodology prioritizes strategic donor selection, identifying corals that have already passed the climate stress test in nature. By utilizing these naturally better-adapted individuals as donor colonies, the project ensures that restoration is built on a foundation of proven climate resilience.
The director of Corals for Conservation, Austin Bowden-Kerby, says, “Rather than imposing technological solutions on coral reefs that are expensive and difficult to upscale, the Reefs of Hope strategy enables nature to do most of the upscaling work itself through restored reproduction and enhanced larval-based recovery processes.
The Collective Path to Implementation
The implementation of "Reefs of Hope" has relied on strong collaboration across partners. Corals for Conservation (C4C) worked hand-in-hand with diverse partners to establish five operational model sites across Fiji and Samoa, including nurseries integrated into Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs), and deploy 20+ temperature loggers to track the ocean’s fever. This journey relied on the provincial offices of the Ministry of i-Taukei (indigenous) Affairs to ensure every action was culturally grounded, while the tourism sector stepped up as vital allies, with resorts engaging to help monitor nurseries.
Capacity building was the heartbeat of this project, placing the future of the reefs directly in the hands of the next generation. The project transferred critical technical skills to over 25 government and NGO officers and 20 community youth leaders, who were trained as guardians or reef-stewards in “hot-pocket” identification and nursery monitoring. These empowered youth and community members remain on the frontlines, ensuring that the knowledge of how to find and protect the last resilient corals remains a local legacy.
Voices of Success in the South Pacific
The achievements of the Reefs of Hope methodology are already visible in the vibrant coral clusters that now thrive despite the heat. In Fiji alone, the project has secured over 2,500 heat-adapted coral specimens, housing a diversity of more than 40 species within its nurseries. While this methodology still requires additional proof-of-concept, there are early signs of success. During the peak seasonal heat of the recent global bleaching event, the Bula Reef Nursery recorded no bleaching, a testament to the effectiveness of selecting pre-adapted survivors.
Beyond the biological data, the project’s impact is also rooted in social resilience and accessibility. By promoting an accessible, low-cost approach, the initiative empowers local stakeholders to take stewardship of their marine resources. The growing recognition of this methodology has positioned it as a promising model for assisted climate adaptation and is being globally taught in coral restoration courses for practitioners.
“Through the Reefs of Hope workshop, we have learnt how simple and affordable methods can empower our communities and also build confidence to take ownership of coral restoration efforts,” says Fidelis Matata, Conservation Officer for Ba Province, Ministry of i-Tauki Affairs, who attended a workshop in November 2025. “The approach is practical and has the potential to support climate adaptation not just here in Fiji, but in other communities facing similar challenges.”
Navigating Severe Challenges
The path to restoration is rarely linear, and the project has faced significant hurdles that tested its resilience. The foremost threat was the mass bleaching event that swept through the Pacific, in some areas like Tuvalu and Kiribati, leaving behind too few live corals to even begin the nursery process. This ecological pressure was compounded by operational challenges. While the initial aim was to build and maintain nurseries in five Pacific countries, the reality proved far more complex.
The differing capacities of local governments and NGOs meant that a "one-size-fits-all" approach was impossible. Establishing these sites required more than just technical skill; it required complex logistics and consistent local presence that was difficult to maintain. These experiences taught that while sometimes the methodology is sound, its successful deployment is deeply dependent on the local operational infrastructure, capacity and the health condition of coral reefs.
The Path to Lasting Hope
The extreme pressure from climate change means that many communities are now turning to restoration out of necessity. However, a major cross learning lesson is that many countries still lack the robust regulatory frameworks needed to monitor and support science-based restoration. Without clear standards, scattered restoration efforts can range from being ineffective for recovery, to potentially damaging by manipulating already stressed ecosystems. To address these gaps, the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration offers foundational resources like the Principles for ecosystem restoration to guide the United Nations Decade 2021–2030 by providing a shared global vision for effective recovery. UNEP also provides practical resources such as the Coral Reef Restoration: A guide to coral restoration method.
Securing the future of coral reefs will require more than isolated interventions. It demands a fundamental shift in how restoration is understood, financed, and implemented, linking local action with national policy, and science with community stewardship. This means building capacity and promoting tested, scientifically rigorous methodologies, ensuring that every intervention is a calculated step toward a resilient future, rather than a gamble with a fragile ecosystem. Methods such as Reefs of Hope, which are being tested and show promising results in several contexts, can offer useful insights for practitioners during the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
“As the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration urges greater action to revive degraded ecosystems, Reefs of Hope is an innovative methodology that responds to the urgent needs of SIDS in the Pacific, where the economy and local livelihoods are under pressure from the unprecedented impacts of climate change and the degradation of coral reefs,” says Sinikinesh Beyene Jimma, UNEP's Chief of Marine and Coastal Ecosystems Unit. “UNEP’s support reflects our commitment to advancing locally grounded solutions that strengthen resilience where it matters the most.”
In a warming world, restoration is no longer optional. Integrated with conservation, it is the pathway through which island nations can reclaim resilience, secure their natural capital, and shape a future where both people and reefs continue to thrive.
About UNEP’s Small Grants Programme: Innovative community-based initiative for conservation, restoration and sustainable use of marine and coastal ecosystems.
UNEP’s Small Grants Programme for the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of marine and coastal ecosystems empowers civil society partners, local communities, women’s groups, youth organizations and indigenous peoples who depend on healthy oceans and ecosystems for their livelihoods, food security, and cultural identity. From mangrove forests to seagrass meadows to coral reefs, the programme helps communities safeguard the ecosystems that buffer coastlines, store blue carbon, sustain biodiversity and provide livelihoods for some of the most vulnerable communities in the world.
Acknowledgements: We would like to acknowledge the Principality of Monaco, the United States Department of State, France, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (Australia), and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation for their continued support and commitment.
About the SIDS Restoration Flagship
The SIDS Restoration Flagship is one of the World Restoration Flagships under the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030). Led by UNEP, FAO and in partnership with UNDESA, it supports restoration across three Small Island Developing States (Comoros, Vanuatu and Saint Lucia), strengthening resilience from ridge to reef and empowering communities to lead nature-based solutions.
Acknowledgement: Supported by the Governments of Germany and Denmark through the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration Multi-Partner Trust Fund.