Managers and Practitioners: This toolkit is a first draft that provides you with the latest tools, strategies, and protocols to address coral bleaching and conservation of reef fish spawning aggregations. You are invited to field-test and refine the methods in this draft. In two years, a revised toolkit will be produced based on your recommendations.

The R²—Reef Resilience—toolkit is designed primarily for the use of MPA managers, trainers, and policymakers. Entrusted with protecting coral reefs, they face significant challenges because these ecosystems are highly vulnerable to the demographic, economic, and environmental changes expected during the next century.

R² builds upon the principle that effective management is fundamental to ensure reef survival. Comprised of two extensive topic streams-Coral Bleaching and Reef Fish Spawning Aggregations-the toolkit will help practitioners begin to build resilience into their coral reef conservation programs so that these valuable natural systems can survive the anticipated rapid changes and provide for escalating human needs.

This Fish Spawning Aggregations (FSA) Stream introduces the topic in general terms. Designed to help MPA managers locate reef fish spawning aggregations, it also suggests ways to begin the political and implementation processes for effective protection of the special locations that are the sole source for new generations of the fishes that spawn in them.

It is recommended that the toolkit be used along with the Manual for the Study and Conservation of Reef Fish Spawning Aggregations, which can be downloaded here. Produced by the Society for the Conservation of Reef Fish Aggregations (http://www.scrfa.org), this document is an essential companion volume and provides additional details for those interested in delving deeper into the subject of reef fish spawning aggregations.

While recognizing that fishes that aggregate to spawn may use widely dispersed habitats during different life stages, the focus of the toolkit is primarily on protection of the aggregations because they are highly vulnerable to overfishing. As we learn more about the biology and management of FSAs, future iterations of the toolkit are likely to expand to include more comprehensive conservation actions for aggregating species.

A second stream of the toolkit focuses on building resilience to mass coral bleaching into MPAs and ensuring protection of refugia as important sources of seed that replenish degraded reefs.

Companion Manual for the Study and Conservation of Reef Spawning Aggregations: (http://www.scrfa.org/server/educational/manual.htm)

Companion document on MPA design and management: http://www.iucn.org/themes/marine/pdf/mpaguid2.pdf