#ForCoral Webinar - Harnessing Artificial Intelligence to Monitor Coral Reefs
Coral reefs exist in more than 100 countries and territories underpinning Earth’s vast and interconnected web of marine biodiversity. They provide ecosystem services valued up to USD $9.9 trillion and support the livelihoods, well-being, and cultures of close to one billion people worldwide (~13% of the global population). They are vital to the security, resilience, and climate adaptation of many of the world’s most vulnerable island and coastal nations, yet the survival of coral reefs is threatened by increasing local human-pressures, compounded by the escalating climate crisis. The need for urgent action is clear.
Advances in science and technology are opening new pathways to protect, manage, and restore coral reefs - offering hope for their recovery and the communities that depend on them. Cutting-edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) are emerging as powerful tools #ForCoral. AI can process vast amounts of data - from satellite imagery to underwater sensors - to predict reef health trends, optimise restoration site selection, and improve marine spatial planning.
This webinar on AI aims to showcase innovative AI applications in coral reef monitoring, bridging technology and marine science for actionable insights.
Objectives:
Introduce participants to the fundamentals of AI and its application in monitoring coral reef ecosystems.
Showcase real-world examples of AI-driven monitoring tools that support reef health assessments and data collection.
Highlight how AI enhances the scale, speed, and accuracy of reef monitoring compared to traditional methods.
Discuss opportunities, limitations, and challenges of using AI in marine monitoring, especially in diverse and remote environments.
This 90 minute webinar is brought to you by ICRI and the Reef Resilience Network as part of the #ForCoral webinar series, in partnership with DigiLab.