Valuing marine restoration beyond the 'too small and too expensive'

Restoration is criticized as ineffectively small scale, a smoke screen against global-scale action. Yet, large-scale solutions arise from small-scale successes, which inject social values and optimism needed for global investment. Human values are central to achieving socio-ecological sustainability; understanding human behavior is now arguably more important than understanding the ecological processes.

Automated summary

Despite criticism that restoration efforts are too small in scale, small successes can lead to large-scale solutions by injecting social values and optimism. Human values are crucial for achieving socio-ecological sustainability, and understanding human behavior is arguably more important than understanding ecological processes.