A common approach by many agencies is to construct a list of
current threats to reefs, prioritize them and tackle them individually.
This reactive approach (which invariably focuses on changes that
have already occurred) needs to be replaced by more proactive,
integrative and flexible styles of governance and management that
can deal with uncertainty and the risk of ecological surprises leading
to phase-shifts. Legislation and policy need to focus on rebuilding
ecosystem functions and bolstering ecosystem resilience to future
disturbances, rather than maintaining the status quo. We make the
following recommendations as a pathway towards integrated,
resilience-based management of coral reefs: