Coral reef restoration is often presented as a marine conservation solution that provides 'win-win' outcomes. However, most studies on reef restoration have focused on the biological success, while little is known about whether social objectives are ever achieved. This study investigates a reef restoration initiative in the Spermonde archipelago, Indonesia, where food security was initially presented as an intended social outcome. We utilised an ethnographic mixed-methods approach to investigate: 1) perceived sociocultural benefits of coral restoration to the local community; 2) impacts of reef restoration on local food security; and 3) local sociocultural barriers and limitations of reef restoration as a mechanism for improving food security. We found fish contributed to food security primarily as an income source to purchase food. Local people mainly valued nearby reefs for storm protection. Furthermore, most fishers are organised through patron-client systems that target pelagic species; therefore they currently have minimal dependency on adjacent reefs. However, fishing restrictions linked to the restoration programme still negatively impacted both pelagic fishers and a small population of reef-based fishers—indirectly by damaging reciprocal fishing relations with neighbouring islands and directly by limiting access to local reefs. Complex social and trade networks associated with patron-client networks present potential barriers for transitioning to reef-based fisheries and eradicating the use of destructive fishing gear, therefore limiting access to potential food security benefits generated from reef restoration. These findings show that the relationship between coral restoration and food security is tenuous and cannot be assumed. These findings also demonstrate that social dynamics surrounding community-based conservation initiatives are complex and context-dependent, and such details must be considered when designing marine habitat restoration initiatives.

中文翻译：

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评估珊瑚礁恢复中粮食安全目标的指标和局限性

珊瑚礁修复通常被视为提供“双赢”结果的海洋保护解决方案。然而，大多数关于珊瑚礁恢复的研究都集中在生物学上的成功上，而对社会目标是否已经实现知之甚少。本研究调查了印度尼西亚斯珀蒙德群岛的珊瑚礁恢复计划，最初将粮食安全作为预期的社会结果提出。我们利用人种学混合方法来调查：1）珊瑚恢复对当地社区的社会文化利益；2) 珊瑚礁恢复对当地粮食安全的影响；3) 珊瑚礁恢复作为改善粮食安全机制的当地社会文化障碍和局限性。我们发现鱼类对粮食安全的贡献主要是作为购买食物的收入来源。当地人主要看重附近的珊瑚礁来保护风暴。此外，大多数渔民是通过以远洋物种为目标的赞助-客户系统组织的；因此，它们目前对邻近珊瑚礁的依赖程度最低。然而，与恢复计划相关的捕鱼限制仍然对远洋渔民和少数珊瑚礁渔民产生负面影响——间接破坏了与邻近岛屿的互惠捕鱼关系，直接限制了进入当地珊瑚礁。与顾客-客户网络相关的复杂社会和贸易网络为过渡到珊瑚礁渔业和消除破坏性渔具的使用带来了潜在障碍，因此限制了珊瑚礁恢复产生的潜在粮食安全利益的获取。这些发现表明，珊瑚恢复与粮食安全之间的关系是微弱的，不能假设。这些发现还表明，围绕基于社区的保护举措的社会动态是复杂的且取决于环境，在设计海洋栖息地恢复举措时必须考虑这些细节。