In the last 40 years, healthy coral cover on the reefs within Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary has declined more than 90%. This decline can't be blamed on a single cause, but rather a web of interconnected problems. The different habitats of the Florida Keys are dependent on each other to survive. Mangrove forests, seagrass meadows, shallow hard-bottom habitats, and coral reefs face many local and global threats to their health and survival. The health and quality of each of these habitats affect the others, so restoring each habitat ndividually helps improve the quality of other habitats and ecosystems.
The Florida Keys community is working to protect and rebuild these beautiful ecosystems and is developing and implementing omprehensive restoration strategies in collaboration with numerous partners. This includes replanting seagrass beds that have been damaged, enhancing the structural complexity, functioning, and resilience of coral reefs, and reintroducing sponges into nearshore hard-bottom communities to restore degraded sponge communities and enhance their effectiveness to improving nearshore water quality.
Click on the links below to learn more about restoration projects in Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
