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Hybrid coral reef restoration can be a cost-effective nature-based solution to provide protection to vulnerable coastal populations

January 15, 2025

Coral reefs can mitigate flood damages by providing protection to tropical coastal communities whose populations are dense, growing fast, and have predominantly lower-middle income. This study provides the first fine-scale, regionally modeled valuations of how flood risk reductions associated with hybrid coral reef restoration could benefit people, property, and economic activity along Florida and Puerto Rico’s 1005 kilometers of reef-lined coasts. Restoration of up to 20% of the regions’ coral reefs could provide flood reduction benefits greater than costs. Reef habitats with the greatest benefits are shallow, nearshore, and fronting low-lying, vulnerable communities, which are often where reef impacts and loss are the greatest. Minorities, children, the elderly, and those below the poverty line could receive more than double the hazard risk reduction benefits of the overall population, demonstrating that reef restoration as a nature-based solution can have positive returns on investment economically and socially by providing protection to the most vulnerable people.

Publication Year 2025
Title Hybrid coral reef restoration can be a cost-effective nature-based solution to provide protection to vulnerable coastal populations
DOI 10.1126/sciadv.adn4004
Authors Curt Storlazzi, Borja Reguero, Kristen C. Alkins, James B. Shope, Aaron Cole, Camila Gaido-Lassarre, T. Shay Viehman, Michael W. Beck
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Science Advances
Index ID 70262915
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
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