Hope spot in the Caribbean : evidence of coral restoration success in the Dominican Republic

Abstract

In the last several decades, the Caribbean has experienced widespread coral reef degradation. However, the work of Fundación Grupo Puntacana and its partners has helped create a “Hope Spot” in the eastern Dominican Republic. In 2016, for example, biologists documented sexual spawning of staghorn corals off the coast of Punta Cana for the first time ever. These corals had been transplanted as part of the Partnership for Ecologically Sustainable Coastal Areas (PESCA), a comprehensive program for the protection and restoration of the region’s coastal areas, which includes the Foundations’ coral restoration program that has spanned over a decade.