Objective
The Future of Reefs in a Changing Environment (FORCE) Project partners a multi-disciplinary team of researchers from Europe and the Caribbean to enhance the scientific basis for managing coral reefs in an era of rapid climate change and unprecedented human pressure on coastal resources. The overall aim is to provide coral reef managers with a toolbox of sustainable management practices that minimise the loss of coral reef health and biodiversity. An ecosystem approach is taken that explicitly links the health of the ecosystem with the livelihoods of dependent communities, and identifies the governance structures needed to implement sustainable development. Project outcomes are reached in four steps. First, a series of experimental, observational and modelling studies are carried out to understand both the ultimate and proximate drivers of reef health and therefore identify the chief causes of reef degradation. Second, the project assembles a toolbox of management measures and extends their scope where new research can significantly improve their efficacy. Examples include the first ‘coral-friendly’ fisheries policies that balance herbivore extraction against the needs of the ecosystem, the incorporation of coral bleaching into marine reserve design, and creation of livelihood enhancement and diversification strategies to reduce fisheries capacity. Third, focus groups and ecological models are used to determine the efficacy of management tools and the governance constraints to their implementation. This step impacts practical reef management by identifying the tools most suited to solving a particular management problem but also benefits high-level policy-makers by highlighting the governance reform needed to implement such tools effectively. Lastly, the exploitation and dissemination of results benefits from continual engagement with practitioners. The project will play an important and measurable role in helping communities adapt to climate change in the Caribbean.
Fields of science
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesfisheries
- social sciencessociologygovernance
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes
- social scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and management
Programme(s)
Call for proposal
FP7-ENV-2009-1
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Coordinator
EX4 4QJ Exeter
United Kingdom
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Participants (18)
EX44RN Exeter
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NE1 7RU Newcastle Upon Tyne
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1012WX Amsterdam
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1797 SZ DEN HOORN TEXEL
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Participation ended
1976 CP Ijmuiden
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6708 PB Wageningen
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3000 AM Rotterdam
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Willemstad
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28359 BREMEN
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52900 Ramat Gan
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2060 San Pedro De Montes De Oca San Jose
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7 Kingston
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04510 CIUDAD DE MEXICO
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77014 Chetumal
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Bay Islands
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4072 Brisbane
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Participation ended
6708PB WAGENINGEN
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6708 PB Wageningen
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