Habitat Restoration Technical Training Workshop

Dr. David Gulko, Aquatic Biologist IV and Coral Ecologist at Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources, facilitated a Habitat Restoration Technical Training Workshop focused on Corals (part 1) as part of the Bluetide Caribbean Summit 2021.

This was a practitioner-focused, 5-day, field-based, train-the-trainer workshop designed to instruct participants in the relatively new field of coral restoration husbandry (including transport, re-acclimation, and monitoring and assessment of loss or gain in ecological services and functions). A key feature of the workshop was several marine-based activities centered around health assessment, collection, documentation, care of, and out-planting of coral for restoration purposes that the participants conducted using new equipment and techniques learned during the workshop. In addition, the ERSF provided technical assistance support in developing the programmatic objectives to strengthen local and regional capacity in coral restoration and coastal workforce development.