ORIGINAL ARTICLE Coral translocation and farming as mitigation and conservation measures for coastal development in the Red Sea: Aqaba case study, Jordan Mohammed M. A. Kotb 1 Received: 10 February 2015 / Accepted: 23 November 2015 / Published online: 1 March 2016 Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016 Abstract Coastal development is often at odds with coral reef conservation. In Aqaba, Jordan, authorities proposed a plan to relocate the existing port services to a new area on Al-Dirreh Bay towards the southern end of the Gulf of Aqaba. As a mitigation measure, 7000 endangered coral colonies were moved from Al-Dirreh and transplanted into degraded reef sites in Aqaba Marine Park. Sample survival and linear growth rates were determined biannually for 2 years and compared to growth rates at a control site. The overall survival rate for the transplanted colonies was estimated to exceed 87 % and the linear growth rates of the 16 species studied showed very similar values to colonies of the same species at the control site. Three species, Go- niastrea edwardsi, Acropora arabensis and Stylophora pistillata, demonstrated more than 1 cm of linear growth per year. In addition, a nursery of coral nubbins from three species, Acropora hemprichii, S. pistillata and Pocillopora damicornis, was established to be a sustainable source of fully grown colonies. Their survival and linear growth rates were also measured over the 2-year period. The overall survival rate of the nubbins was 88 %, and the annual linear growth rate ranged from 0.32 cm for A. hemprichii to 0.99 cm for S. pistillata. High survival and linear growth rates indicate that the transplantation site selection and the techniques employed were successful. The results of this work support the premise that endangered coral colonies can be translocated to other reef areas and that coral nurseries can be set up to produce multiple fully grown colonies for future reef rehabilitation projects. Keywords Coral nursery Á Growth Á Survival Á Rehabilitation Á Management Introduction Coral reefs offer biological, ecological, and socioeconomic value to the countries bordering the Red Sea and form a critical component of the local marine environment. The region is undergoing very rapid coastal development to meet the requirements of a young and growing population. For some countries suitable sites for economically impor- tant coastal development projects are limited and there is conflict between the requirements for social and economic development and the national responsibility to manage, protect and conserve coral reef areas for the many benefits they provide. A coastal development project carried out in Aqaba, Jordan, has provided an opportunity to test some coral conservation measures which could be applied at other coastal development projects where potentially negative impacts on coral reefs have been indicated. The coral reefs that lie at the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba, including those within the Aqaba Marine Park (AMP), suffer from high anthropogenic impacts due to the shallow water depth, easy accessibility, and their close proximity to major population and industrial centres. A major coastal zone management plan was established to relocate all coastal activities to maximize the benefits of the coastal zone resources, especially the coral reefs. Part of the plan involves relocating the existing port services to a new, expanded and modernized port area on Al-Dirreh Bay along Aqaba’s southern coastline close to the border of Jordan with Saudi Arabia. However, the bay is considered to support one of the most diverse reef areas and important & Mohammed M. A. Kotb Kotb13@gmail.com 1 Marine Science Department, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, Ismailia 41511, Egypt 123 Environ Earth Sci (2016) 75:439 DOI 10.1007/s12665-016-5304-3