Hotels Turn Resorts Into Coral Restoration Labs as Reefs Face Climate Crisis
Photo Credit: At hotel resorts such as Iberostar, members of staff study and feed coral. Iberostar
Skift Take
Some coastal resorts are in a unique position to help protect the marine life that draws so many visitors in the first place.
As coral reefs around the world face unprecedented stress from warming oceans, a growing number of coastal hotels and resorts are transforming their beachfronts into living laboratories for reef restoration.
They host coral nurseries on site, research labs, and guest programs designed to restore damaged reefs and promote marine health.
A study released Monday by 160 scientists from 23 countries, warns that warm-water coral reefs will not survive “at any meaningful scale” without aggressive efforts to limit global warming.
Coral reefs play a crucial environmental role, storing an estimated 70 to 90 million tonnes of carbon each year and supporting a quarter of all marine species. But rising ocean temperatur