ABSTRACT

Coral restoration activities are often time and labour intensive, preventing restoration efforts to be carried out at meaningful spatial and temporal scales. This chapter shows that ecotourism can help address some of the current limitations of coral restoration efforts through two case studies: the Reefscapers program in the Maldives and the New Heaven Reef Conservation Program in Thailand. Using volunteer workforce conveys the advantages of increasing restoration capacity, reducing restoration costs, improving the opportunity to educate the general public to the threats to coral reef ecosystems and building conservation stewardship.