ReefCloud: Harnessing AI for integrated coral reef monitoring and agile conservation

Coral reefs, vital to marine biodiversity and the livelihoods of about a billion people worldwide, face unprecedented threats from climate change, pollution, and overfishing. Effective and timely conservation strategies guided by status and trend information from ecological monitoring are essential to safeguard these ecosystems.

ReefCloud, an innovative platform leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing, offers a transformative approach to coral reef monitoring. This not only enhances our understanding of coral reef ecosystems but also accelerates how science can inform targeted conservation actions.

ReefCloud integrates image-based monitoring, machine learning algorithms, and statistical models to provide real-time, quality-assured assessments of coral reef status and trends that can be interrogated across various geographical scales. Using AI, ReefCloud can rapidly analyse high volumes of underwater imagery, identify coral reef taxa, detect bleaching events, and assess overall reef condition with unprecedented precision. This automated analysis significantly reduces the time and resources required for traditional monitoring methods, enabling more frequent, comprehensive and standardised assessments.

The platform’s cloud-based infrastructure ensures that data is accessible to researchers, conservationists, and policymakers worldwide. ReefCloud’s user-friendly interface allows for seamless data sharing and collaboration, fostering a global network of over 2,000 practitioners and stakeholders from over 90 countries committed to coral reef conservation.

For example, ReefCloud enables the identification of at-risk coral reef areas, supports the development of adaptive management strategies, and facilitates the evaluation of the effectiveness of conservation interventions. The platform also advances the capabilities of First Nation ranger programs and citizen science initiatives, empowering local communities to contribute to reef monitoring efforts and to support co-management approaches. The platform’s scalability and adaptability to diverse use cases make it a valuable tool for addressing the dynamic and complex challenges facing coral reefs in the 21st century.

Here, we will introduce ReefCloud through use cases from various jurisdictions that illustrate the platform’s value as a significant advancement in coral reef monitoring. The presentation will highlight the next critical steps needed to deliver actionable knowledge in the context of the Global Biodiversity Framework, which will inform the protection of coral reefs as globally critical ecosystems, ensuring their resilience and sustainability for future generations.