FORCE was a European Union-funded, integrated research project that used an ecosystem approach, linking social and ecological aspects, towards managing Caribbean coral reefs in the face of climate change.
The 10 study areas that comprised the FORCE project included research into ecological & social processes that affect coral reef health; linking the ecological & social processes underpinning reef health and the creation of tools to aide practitioners, stakeholders & governments to plan for more effective coral reef management.
The project produced 62 scientific papers, 6 policy & management briefs and worked with managers in developing the publication, Towards Reef Resilience and Sustainable Livelihoods: a handbook for Caribbean reef managers.
FORCE Project Partners included researchers at 18 institutions from 10 countries within the Caribbean, Central America, Europe & Australia.
Alterra Wageningen University, Netherlands
Bar-Ilan University, Israel
CARMABI-Caribbean Research and Management of Biodiversity, Netherland Antilles
Centro de Ecologia Marina de Utila, Honduras
ECOSUR – El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Mexico
IMARES-Wageningen Institute for Marine Resources and Ecosystem Studies, Netherlands
IMM-Integrated Marine Management, England
Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology, Germany
Newcastle University, England
NIOZ-Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research
Rotterdam Zoo, Netherlands
Universiteit van Amsterdam, Netherlands
Universidad Autonoma de Mexico
Universidad de Costa Rica
University of Exeter, England
University of Queensland
University of the West Indies, Barbados
Wageningen University, Netherlands