المملكة: From monitoring to “active restoration”… KAUST launches implementation strategies to save coral reefs
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology launched «KAUST», in cooperation with global and local environmental entities, has developed urgent implementation strategies to advance research Coral reefsfrom merely monitoring deterioration to adopting “active restoration” models, with the aim of protecting the Kingdom’s coastal systems and ensuring the sustainability of food security.
An elite group of scientists, researchers and policy makers agreed, during the international conference hosted by the university on its Thul campus, on the necessity of immediately transforming scientific knowledge and compelling evidence into scalable protection plans on the ground, and redefining the concept of environmental resilience in an operational and practical form.
The conference, which extended over three days, brought together an elite group of international researchers specialized in coral reefs, policy makers, and environmental restoration experts, along with representatives of relevant national agencies and government initiatives.
Protecting Coral Reefs
The discussions focused on expanding the scope of research cooperation, accelerating efforts to protect and restore coral reefs, and developing governance frameworks that support the long-term resilience of coastal marine systems and coral reefs.
The outcomes were based on Active in the “One Health” initiative, which demonstrated the close and direct interrelation between the safety of the marine environment and human health, warning that coral deterioration threatens fisheries and weakens the natural barriers that support the quality of life of communities.
The sessions witnessed a remarkable strategic integration between the university and major national entities, most notably “Shams”, “Red Sea International”, and the “National Center for Wildlife Development”, to unify coastal development efforts and develop governance frameworks that ensure the resilience of systems. Environmental challenges in the long term.
Scientific discussions, supported by a strategic partnership with the international Nature Foundation, confirmed that degraded reefs may turn into hotbeds for pathogens, making active institutional intervention to restore them an urgent necessity that protects the economy and human health at the same time.
Environmental challenges
Professor Raquel Peixoto, professor of the Marine Sciences Program at KAUST and co-organiser of the conference, explained that reefs Degraded coral can harbor increasing amounts of pathogens that may spread across marine species that humans depend on for food and livelihood.
She said: “The deterioration of coral reefs not only represents an environmental challenge, but has direct implications for human health and economic sustainability.
Disruption of these systems may disrupt the fisheries on which communities depend, and weaken the natural barriers that protect coastlines and livelihoods. The One Health approach emphasizes that ecosystem health, food security, and economic stability are elements Interconnected.
The gathering of national and international experiences allows the development of practical, organized solutions that protect humans and the marine environment at the same time.”
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