Workshop Program
Workshop period: Sunday-Thursday June, 22-26
Location: The InterUniversity Institute for Marine Science, Eilat (Red Sea)
Daily plan
8:30-10:00 Session 1: Presentations
10:00-10:30 Coffee break
10:30-12:00 Session 2: Presentations
12:00-2:00 Lunch + “ex-curricular activities”
2:00-4:00 Session 3: Round-table discussions (MER Working Group)
4:00-4:30 Coffee break
4:30-6:30 Session 4: Round-table discussions (MER Working Group)
7:30 Dinner
Presentation Sessions:
Sunday, June 22
Session I - Introduction: “Global Ocean Issues” special session
- The ocean’s solution for human food needs (Steve Gaines)
- Global marine monitoring: World’s largest marine park survey (Graham Edgar)
- Brief introduction to Ocean Health Index (Ben Halpern – Video clip)
Session II - Introduction: The marine environment of Israel
- The Gulf of Eilat (Aqaba): A unique sea of bleach-less coral reefs (Amatzia Genin)
- The National Monitoring Program: Eilat marine ecosystems (Yoni Shaked)
- Marine ecosystems of the Israeli Mediterranean Sea: Present state, MPAs and future plans (Ruth Yahel)
- Compliance and national monitoring in Israel's Marine environment - anthropogenic effects and mitigation (Dror Zurel)
Monday, June 23
Session III - Marine Restoration: Theory, vision and future directions
- Scaling challenges in restoration of marine ecosystems: Drawing analogies from fisheries restoration (Steve Gaines)
- Restoration in terrestrial vs. marine ecosystems: What can be learned (Shaid Naeem - Video)
- How can we improve Ocean Health Index: Implementation of ecological restoration concepts into OHI (Ben Halpern – Video)
- Restoration or protection: Could ecosystem restoration ever be a better investment than protection? (Avigdor Abelson)
Session IV - Marine Restoration: Ecological aspects
- Targets and indicators of effective ecological restoration projects (Daniel reed)
- Evaluation of restoration practices (Graham Edgar)
- Fishery restoration and fish stock enhancement (Peter Nelson)
- Ecological restoration: Genetic aspects (Giacomo Bernardi)
Tuesday, June 24
Session V - Marine Restoration: Socio-economic aspects
- Philosophical and social issues in environmental restoration (Robert France)
- Transdisciplinary research project on Mangroves with emphasis on socio-economic aspects (Gesche Krause)
- Economic value of ecosystem services: Drawing restoration incentives from the gap between healthy and degraded ecosystems (Moti Shechter)
- Expanding restoration’s socioeconomic goods and services (Robert France)
Session VI - Coral reef restoration
- Coral Reef Restoration: Introduction
- Rebuilding coral reefs: does active reef restoration lead to sustainable reefs? (Buki Rinkevich)
- Artificial reefs as a coral reef restoration tool (Nadav Shashar)
- Using ecological principles to inform restoration initiatives based on artificial reefs (Yoni Belmaker)
Wednesday, June 25
Session VII - Seagrass and benthic algae Restoration
- Seagrass meadows restoration – Introduction (Robert Orth/Gary Kendrick)
- Restoration in the marine realm: Global concerns drive local restoration efforts – seagrass case study (Robert Orth)
- The role of connectivity and sex in restoration and recovery of seagrass following disturbance (Gary Kendrick)
- Kelp forest restoration (Daniel Reed)
- Canopy forming algae restoration (Laura Airoldi)
Session VIII – Marine and aquatic ecosystem Restoration: Brief reviews
- Mangrove forest restoration (Mike Beck)
- Oyster reef restoration (Mike Beck)
- Salt march restoration (Laura Airoldi)
- River and lake management - case studies (Yael Ben-Tzvi)
Thursday, June 26
Session IX - Ecological engineering as a restoration tool (Peter Nelson)
- Green vs. grey engineering for coastal protection (Michael Beck)
- Integration of man-made structures into conservation and restoration projects (Laura Airoldi)
- Living Breakwaters - Restoring shallow water habitats using ecologically sensitive technologies (Shimrit Perkol-Finkel)
- Blue is the new Green - Applying principles of Reconciliation Ecology in urban waterfronts (Ido Sella)
- Water quality: Monitoring parameters and how can we influence them (Yael Ben-Tzvi)
Session IX – Panel and discussion: How can we promote marine ecological restoration?
Working Group sessions: proposed topics
General topics
- Marine Ecological Restoration: Vision and approaches for the future (advantages, drawbacks and major gaps)
- Directions and concepts for implementation of ‘science-based ecological restoration’ as an effective management tool
- Are there socio-economic incentives that can promote restoration projects?
- What should be the spatial and temporal extent of restoration?
- Placement and reclamation of destroyed ecosystems
- Should management of MPAs include restoration component?
- When and where should restoration practices/interventions be applied?
- How to transfer ecological restoration tools and approaches to decision-makers and end-users
- Restoration approaches and tools prior to and after tipping points – Can we identify pre-tipping point states?
- Ecological restoration across ecosystems: Can we learn from the common and odd?
- Costs and efforts of post-shift versus pre-shift restoration practices
Technical topics:
- Exploration of restoration approaches and methods that can be applied in large scales
- Development of rules and tools for siting, planning and managing degraded-ecosystem MPAs
- Exploration of existing and potential ecosystem-specific restoration tools
- Protocols for 'pre-launch assessment': How to measure/evaluate a site prior to implementation of restoration projects
- Review and analysis of past and ongoing restoration projects, their effects and costs-benefits
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