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:

1. Exploration of restoration approaches and methods that can be applied in large scales
2. Development of rules and tools for siting, planning and managing degraded-ecosystem MPAs
3. Exploration of existing and potential ecosystem-specific restoration tools
4. Protocols for 'pre-launch assessment': How to measure/evaluate a site prior to implementation of restoration projects
5. Review and analysis of past and ongoing restoration projects, their effects and costs-benefits