Ala Wai Canal is visible from a hotel near Waikīkī on Oʻahu island, Hawaiʻi. A recent study assessed whether coastal businesses that benefit from coral reefs would be willing to financially support reef restoration. Photo by Rachel Carlson
Coral reefs are a crucial element of Hawaiʻi's economy, supporting tourism and recreation while protecting coastal property from storms. But as climate change and other human activities threaten coral reefs, coastal communities are exploring new ways to finance coral reef conservation and restoration in the face of ecosystem disruption. Coastal businesses like hotels or recreation companies, which benefit greatly from these threatened ecosystems, may serve as an untapped source of funding for reef restoration.
To better understand the feasibility of privately financing coral restoration, a team of researchers led by Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management professor Rachel Carlson surveyed roughly 200 businesses on Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi Island about the value businesses derive from coral reefs and whether businesses view themselves as reef stewards. Their findings, which were published this spring in Scientific Reports, provide critical insights into the private sector's willingness to invest in the protection of these vital marine ecosystems and inform global efforts to scale restoration.
The researchers, who include collaborators at Stanford University, Arizona State University, UC Santa Cruz, and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), measured the likelihood of businesses buying into a coral reef insurance program at specific, pre-determined payment thresholds. Reef insurance is a relatively new tool designed to help coastal businesses invest in coral restoration. The first policy was launched in Mexico by TNC in 2019 and expanded to the United States in 2022.
The authors found that businesses perceive coral reefs as having limited economic value, even in areas where corals provide substantial ecosystem services to businesses like flood protection or tourism revenue. Despite that, coastal businesses showed strong willingness to pay for restoration, a behavior Carlson and her co-authors suggest is due to businesses’ ethical motivations to protect nature and the ‘green’ reputation of many businesses, as well as advocacy for reef protection by Native Hawaiian business owners.
The findings offer stakeholders potential strategies for engaging private entities and other businesses in financing coral restoration.
Read more about the study in Scientific Reports.