Since 1950, coral abundance has declined worldwide by an estimated 60%, and
further dramatic declines are predicted. Although global reductions in carbon
emissions are essential to prevent further loss, coral reef restoration has become
imperative to maintain the ecosystem services that coral reefs provide to humans
at local scales. Yet, currently coral restoration and gardening efforts are too
expensive to scale up due to the labor-intensive nature of the methods and low
success rates. Here, we present a suite of technologies that improve coral reef
restoration and rehabilitation’s scalability, efficiency, and effectiveness. Our
modular technologies are designed to streamline in and ex situ nursery
workflows, reduce maintenance times, solve problems in transporting corals to
outplanting sites, and enable rapid outplanting on natural and artificial substrates.
These novel structures can act as coral seeding hubs, which placed strategically,
can have the capacity to enhance coral reproduction and replenish degraded
nearby reefs with larvae. They can be applied to coral restoration and reefscaping,
complemented by unique eco-friendly, low-carbon-emission structures for the
creation of architecturally and visually appealing habitats and underwater
landscapes. Our technologies integrate novel monitoring approaches that
support intelligent solutions to track genotypes, optimize and control stock
management, apply assisted evolution approaches, and adaptive management
through long-term monitoring.