This framework is designed to serve as a blueprintfor safeguarding Palau’s coral reefs as they face an escalating climate crisis. While Palauan reefs haveh istorically demonstrated resilience (see glossary of terms for definitions) to climate change impacts, projections indicate that by 2030, extreme marine heatwaves may start occurring more frequently and severely, which will likely disrupt natural recovery processes 16,17. Consequently, this framework establishes a proactive, “learning-by-doing” strategy that integrates knowledge on climate projections with ecosystem management, community resilience, and flexible governance. However, it is imperative that restoration practitioners understand that these interventions are attempts to mitigate the effects of climate stress but do not address the climate stresses themselves, which can only be reduced through collaborative global action. Underlying drivers of coral decline, such as sedimentation, poor water quality, or physical damage (i.e., by anchors), need to be mitigated before implementing coral outplanting efforts, as failure to do so will result in wasted time and resources.
