Second Principle

Replication of MPAs along prevailing, larvae-carrying currents (corridors of connectivity) will help ensure that multiple reef communities survive mass bleaching and other major impacts, aid in the recovery of damaged areas down-current, and increase the prospects for reef survival at current levels of biodiversity.

• Today, threats to coral reefs are unprecedented in their severity and extent, and it is impossible to predict with confidence where or when potentially harmful global events will strike.

• Replication of sites and connectivity among reefs (as expressed through larval dispersal along currents and through species movements) should also be applied to the selection of sites.