Playa del Carmen, December 2024 – Reef Futures unfolded on the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico with 850 attendees registered for a week of shared insights and innovations, featuring a dozen Mission: Iconic Reefs (M:IR) colleagues presenting at plenary, concurrent, workshop and poster sessions. The symposium arrived at a critical juncture for coral restoration practitioners. In recent months, critics had been lobbying for a pause in restoration investment until larger solutions about climate change can be addressed. The symposium embraced the criticism, and responded with thoughtful dissent.
“I came away with renewed hope in the tenacity, dedication and innovation of this community to continue to combat all the challenges we are facing,” said Jennifer Moore, M:IR’s Senior Manager and Reef Future’s program chair. “The panel discussion on combating negative criticism that restoration has been taking was amazing, giving all of us the tools on how to do our work in light of that criticism. The other thing that exploded in my mind about hope was in Rose Huizenga’s plenary presentation empowering young Indonesian women to do coral restoration and, in some cases, the first time being in the water. We need to capitalize with that kind of engagement more broadly.”
Huizenga’s Coral Catch aspires to build a network of 100 female leaders who protect and restore the coral reefs of Indonesia, and her presentation symbolized the healing by-product of gathering with like-minded colleagues.
“Over the past few months, I’ve struggled with doubts—witnessing setbacks and seeing fellow restoration practitioners lose hope left me questioning my career and even considering early retirement,” said M:IR partner Dr. Phanor Montoya-Maya, Reef Restoration Program Manager for Coral Restoration Foundation. “But attending Reef Futures changed everything. The opportunity to reconnect, listen, and share stories with the global coral restoration community reignited my motivation and reminded me why this work is worth every challenge.”
Michelle Loewe, who serves on the M:IR leadership team, chaired the core planning team for Reef Futures. M:IR was envisioned in 2018 at the inaugural Reef Futures, which is organized by The Coral Restoration Consortium, a global community of practice dedicated to restoring corals in the places where they are most needed.
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